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li  ( )  S  T  ON: 
.1  .      I'.      M  KN  |i  I    M  ,      I' r  II  I.I  S  II  I.  II  . 

18S9. 


College 
Library 

SH-tiB 


3n  i^tcmoriam. 


"  Yes  I    THE    GRAVE 

Hath  quenched  that  eye.  and  deaths  relentless  frost 
Withered  that  arm;   but  the  unfading   fame 
Which  virtue  hangs   upon  its   votarys  tomb, 
The  deathless  memory  of  that  man, 

•  ■  "  ■  •  THE    remembrance 

With  which  we  still  shall  contemplate 
His  well-spent  pilgrimage  on  earth. 
Shall  never  pass  away." 

—  She/ley. 


J 157321 


WvcfiXCC, 


This  ti-ibutc  of  respect  and  a])prefiati(>ii  is 
offered  to  tlie  puhlie  in  nieniory  of  onr  whose 
services  to  liis  fellow-men  cannot  he  too  highly 
estimated.  All  tiic  l)eautiful  words  that  arc  lu-i-e 
.-aid  of  liiiii  1  can  heartily  endorse.  l)ni'in<^  a 
most  intimate  aci|uaintaiiee  oi'  onci-  iilty  yeai's,  I 
never  knew  him  to  falter  in  tiie  line  of  duty,  or  to 
swerve  from  the  liii;'h  sliindard  of  manhood  he  had 
established  foi'  him-elf.  ('aim  and  diiiiiilied  in  all 
emergencies,  he  was  evei-  thi'  steadfast  friend,  the 
valued  counsellor.  In  teuderesl  lo\ c.  I  cherish  the 
memory  of  my  late  associnte.  II'ii;\(i-:  Skavkh. 

d.  r.  MiAi.iM. 

Boston,  Mas.s..  Oct.  7,  l«8!i. 


^Viogvayttg, 


gio|,u*aphy. 


HoitACK  Si;a\i;i;  \v;is  Ixumi  in  liosloii  on  tlie' 
2;")lh  oC  August,  1810.  He  was  the  second  son  of 
NatlianicI  and  Il.innuli  Seavei',  and  as  a  l)ov  was 
bright  and  promisinji',  early  <i'ivin,ii'  evidence  ol'tiie 
kimlness  and  aliilits  w  liicii  cliai-actcrized  his  al'ter 
lil'c  and  inaih'  iiini  conspicuous  anionic'  his  IMlows 
in  all  that  niai-ks||ic  snpciioi-  man.  lie  was  de- 
scended IVoni  <;-ood  oM  New  l^njiland  stock,  and 
was  pi'ond  that  his  anccsloi-s  were  Americans  and 
l'ou<i"ht  in  ihcLircat  lii'Vohition.  lie  was  educated 
in  the  iniiihc  scliools,  and  was  iii'eatlx  attached  t 
these  institutions,  all  lilnitinu-  tlielo\c  ol'  justice. 
liberty,  and  lair  play,  that  wci'c  promiucnl  trails 
in  his  character,  to  the  early  traiuin<;'  in  c<piality 
and  x'H-rcliancc  w  liii-ji  he  rcceixcd  while  alleiid- 
inj;"  liie  schools  ol'  l>n-«lon.  Theii-  >al'el\  and 
perpetuity  he  regarded  as  nece,->ar\  to  tiie  siahilil  \ 


( > 


8  SJlooivaplui. 


<il'  this  g'()\'C'rmiU'iit.  iiiul  was  i'\ci'  rt-adv  to  resist 
with  liis  pDW-frCiil  xoicc  aixl  pen  aiiv  ciicroacli- 
iiu'iit  on   tlicii'   rights. 

He  was  nanu'd  aftiM-  llu'  once  famous  I'liitariaii 
minister,  Hofaee  Holly,  and  his  |)arents  intenih'd 
that  he  sliould  {"oUow  in  tiie  r()()tste|)s  of  that 
])o|)nL'tr  man.  But  early  in  lil'e.  while  at  Plym- 
outh, Mass.,  he  had  the  g'ood  ioi'lune  to  atti'm|it 
the  defence  of  the  Chfistian  Reli,i;ion  hefoic  a 
dcbatin<i"  clnh,  oi"  which  he  was  a  memliei-,  and 
was  himseir  so  swayed  hy  the  ai'ii'nments  of  his 
companions  that  theneeCorth  his  faith  l)ei;an  to 
wane.  After  listenini;'  to  the  noted  Frc'ethiid<er, 
Robert  Dale  Owen,  in  Albany,  N.  Y .,  Mk.  Sk.w  kh, 
who  had  now  <.;i\cn  up  all  idea  of  l)eeomini;'  a 
niinistei',  ixMionnced  his  former  theo|ot;ieal  ideas, 
and  —  to  use  his  own  woi'ds  —  "  droj)ped  the  min- 
isterial j)art  of  my  |  his  |  name,  Holly,  and  ever 
alU'r  retained  the  Hi'athen  part,  Horace." 

On  his  rt'turn  from  Albany,  where  he  had 
worked  several  months  as  ])rintii',  Mh.  !Si-:.\\  ki: 
eiiteri'd  thi'  ottiee  ol"  the  IxvestigatoK  in  the 
yeai-  1S37,  as  e(miposit(»r.  Mr.  Kncehind's  ti'ial 
for  blaspliemy  was  then  in  pro^'ress.  and  on  \isit- 
ing  that  worthy  geutleman  later  in  jail  alter  his 
conviction,  he  was  so  impressed  with    tlu'  fanat- 


SJiooviipUtv 


icisiii  tli;it  lind  iiiipi-isoiicd  linn,  that  luiiici'oi'lli  lie 
resolved  to  (U'Vote  his  life  to  the  ovcrthi'ow  of  nil 
I'onus  of  suiKTstition  and  tvi'annv  ovei-  the  human 
mind. 

About  this  time,  Mr.  .1.  P.  ^rcnduni,  who  liad 
also  hecunu-  a  disciple  oC  Free  Tliou<^lit,  assumed 
control  ofTiiK  Bo.s'i'dx  IwKSTK.A'roi;.  and  as  Mr. 
Kneeland  was  unable  to  attend  to  all  the  ialito|-ial 
work,  Mk.  Sk.v\ki;  was  iu\  ited  to  as>ist  him,  and 
in  1S39,  after  Mi".  Kneeland  had  left  Boston  to 
reside  in  the  AVesI,  he  liecame  sole  oeen|iant  of 
the  editorial  chair,  thus  \aeated.  Then  he^an 
that  i-emarkalile  part  nei-ship  liet  ween  himself  and 
Ml'.  Mendimi,  which,  havim;'  continued  foi-  o\ cr 
Hfly  years,  has  rijiciKMl  into  more  than  lii'othcrly 
atreetion  and  is  now  oidy  severed  by  the  ity  hand 
ol'di'alh.  As  one  of  oui-  contemporaries  remarked 
of  him:  "From  that  day  to  this  prt'sent  time. 
Ml!.  Si:a\  I.I!  Iiiis  (lilig'ently  and  heroicidly  labon-d 
as  compositor,  editor,  ;ind  lecturer,  for  the  de- 
velopment and  promotion  of  the  nood  cause  of 
Free  'riiouj^'lit.  as  he  has  nnderslooil  il>  principles 
and  objects.  Both  in  season  and  out  o|'  si-ason, 
ill  health  and  sicknes>,  with  scarcely  a  day'-  inter- 
ruption foi'  llie  la>t  half  ci'iiUii-y.  he  has  siooil  at 
his  post  like  a   faithful    scntiiiel   and   a-ked    foi-   no 


10 


iSJogvitphy. 


(tiscli;ii-L;c  (Vuin  his  \viii-r;irc  in  l)cli;iir  oC  I'liix ci-sjil 
Mi'iilal  Lil)ci-|y.  niul  iin';iiiist  rcliiiioiis  hiiioti'N. 
priest cTii ft.  intolciancc.  and  siipi'i'stition." 

He  was  espeeially  loud  of  (lel)ates,  reg^ardiiij:; 
free  discussion  as  a  |)i-inie  factoi-  in  the  promotion 
of  truth;  and  cvci-v  Sunday.  Ixfore  Paine  Hall 
was  estai)hshed.  wouhl  lind  liim  in  HospitalhT 
Hall,  the  most  hrilliant  and  eMectiw  of  tlie  nian\' 
ahle  oi'ators  who  used  to  assiMuhU'  there,  I'eadv  to 
wi-estlt-  in  (U'l)ate  with  such  men  as  AVetlierell, 
Verity.  Kiu^-.  liurk.  Hal)C(Kd<.  and  others.  We 
are  knowinii'  to  the  fact  that  many  a  Cln-istian 
wild  (h-opped  into  "  ohl  Hospitaller  "  from  a  spirit 
of  miscliief  or  curiosity,  came  away,  after  hsteninji^ 
to  one  of  yin.  Sk.wkh's  forceful  ai-,<i:umi'nts.  with 
ideas  that  lc(l  him  forexcr  froni  tlie  faitii  of  his 
fatiiers.  It  was  llu'  (len,i;iit  of  iiis  friends  to  lind 
him  pitted  in  ch'hatc  aii'ainst  some  Chi-istian  oppo- 
ut'Ut.  and  uid'ortunalc  indeed  was  that  indi\iduai 
to  whom  it  was  allotted  to  defend  theolo<>-v  asrainst 
his  seathin<;-  atta(d<s.  On  sevei'al  occasions  have 
we  seen  these  woiliiies  so  discomforted  and 
dumbfounded  by  the  powerful  and  irresistible 
loyic  of  Mk.  Sk.wki;,  that  they  ha\e  laislu'd  from 
the  hall  without  a  word,  and  ii'lt  iiim  undisputed 
master  ol'  the  situation. 


|5iogvaphv|. 


11 


At  the  iiiccliiii;-  licld  in  New  ^'ork  City,  ^lay 
•1.  1S4.").  w  liriT  w  ;is  Milder  coiisidci'alioii  tlic  adop- 
tiiiii  of  ;i  iiaiiic  under  w  liieli  all  dissenters  could 
unite  against  the  eonniKiii  I'oe,  (Jhrisli.-iiiit y,  it  was 
llie  eliKjUeiit  reniaiks  oC  yoiiui;-  Sk.w'KK,  then  in 
early  iiianhood,  w  hieii  hi'oiiiiiil  (irdei-  mit  of  chaos, 
and  caused  the  word  liijidel  to  he  adopted  liy  the 
Coiiveiitioii.  II.  L.  (Treen,  in  ri'lerriii";' to  his  ap- 
pearance at  the  j^-reat  Wat  kins'  Glen  Convt'Utioii, 
held  ill  Aui;iist,  1<S7S,  says:  "It  was  after  nine 
o'clock  when  he  an'i\'ed  IVoiii  l>ostoii,  and  lie  was 
of  course  <ireafly  laliiiiied;  lint  a  lar^c  iiieetiu<>- 
was  heiiiu'  held  ill  the  Town  Park,  and  when  it 
was  learned  that  the  well-known  ICditor  oi'  the 
Ixvksti<;AT<iI!  was  proeiit,  all  clauiored  I'or  a 
spc'i'cli.  Iluudreds  wiio  had  known  him  throu>ih 
the  Twivs'iii.A'roi;  for  years  were  [irescnt  who 
had  lle\er  iiejore  seen  hilll.  lie  eaille  I'oiward 
and  s|)oke  |ni-  lilteeii  niiiiiiles,  and  no  more  elo- 
ijllellt  spicch  was  e\er  lieJore  deli\cre(l.  I"]\ cr)' 
sentence  wa.-  lull  orihouL;hl  and  wisdom  and  ^-oud 
common  >eii>.e.  lie  rcaeiie(l  e\ ciN  heart  lii'lore 
iiiiii,  and  il'  there  were  ()rtliodo\  people  |ireseiit, 
(and  there  iiiiisi  have  lieeii  a  ijrcat  many,)  they 
could  hilt  have  adinitled  that  a  <;ood  and  i;"reat 
mail  was  addrcssiuL!'  iheiii,  —  one  who  waseiililled 


12  23uigvaphy. 


to  the  rcs|)cct  (if  cxci-v  line  IViciHl  n\'  liiininiiity."' 
At  the  State  FiTctliinkci's'  ( 'oiiNcnlioii  at  AUciiiy. 
(N.  Y..)  Sci.t.n,  12.  ;m(l  1:5.  ISS.-,.  lii>  rcin;ii-ks 
clianiu'd  tlir  laruc  aiidii'iicc  assciiihlfd  in  tin- 
()])i'i'a  House,  and  ihcy  left  ])i-ofonndly  inipivssi-tl 
witli  tin-  worth  and  ^ri'atness  oC  the  veneraljlc 
man  w  lio  achh'essed  tlicin.  'I^hiis  it  was.  He  was 
one  of  Nature's  nohlenieii.  and  was  posst'ssed  ol" 
((uahties  that  in  othei-  and  niore  |io|»uhir  walks  ol" 
hCe,  had  he  eliosen  tiieni.  wouhl  iiave  covi'i'ed  liini 
witii  wealtli  and  lame,  and  ranked  iiim  amonj.;'  the 
I'ortunate  of  earth.  But  who  siiall  say  his  re- 
wai'd  is  not  yreatei-  in  tiie  eonseiousness  of  a  thity 
well  performeil.  and  the  impression  he  has  made 
and  is  yet  to  make  on  the  |)|-o<;'ressivi'  thought  of 
the  eounti'v? 

His  life,  though  jon^'.  has  ix^'U  an  exeei'din^'ly 
placid  and  i|uiet  one.  antl.  except  an  occasional 
al)sence  from  home  on  a  lecturing'  toni',  has  hi-en 
mostly  passed  within  the  Tour  walls  of  his  sane- 
tum,  surrouncU'd  hy  his  hooks  and  the  t'xchanj;"es 
that  he  loved  to  peruse.  1  )urin,ii'  the  loii<;-  years 
of  his  editorial  worl<  —  the  lonii'est,  perha])s,  of 
any  li\iuu'  man — he  met  many  ol'  the  leadin;^'  ri'- 
forniers  of  this  trouhlons  |)eriod,  and  numlHTi'd 
among  his  j)ersonal  friends  sueh  illu.strious   names 


2Jiocjvitplir(.  13 


as  William  Lioy*!  (Tarrison,  AVciuk-ll  I*hilli|)s, 
TluM..k»iv  Fai-kcr,  VAv/mv  Wright,  Chark-s  Brad- 
laugh,  Gt'orgc  J.  Holyoakt',  Colonel  Kohert  G. 
Ingersoll,  James  Partou,  Parker  Pillslmry,  and 
others.  Blessed  with  a  philosophic  tiMiipciament, 
he  was  at  home  in  any  society,  and  possessing"  a 
rai'c  I'mul  nf  anccdntc  and  prrsoiial  remiiiisccuees, 
was  a  most  agreeable  and  cnlcilaining  companion. 
But  he  also  loved  solit  iidc,  and  \vlu're"none  in- 
trude," eould  he  always  happy  and  occupied  with 
his  own  tlioughts. 

In  |)hysi(pic  he  was  most  couunandiug,  his 
large  head  and  dignitied  bearing  securing  to  him 
naturallv  and  al  ail  limes  {\\v  dei'erence  oi'  those 
with  whom  he  came  in  contact.  Personally  he 
was  the  most  kind  and  agreeable  oi"  men.  (xeuer- 
ous  to  a  lanlt,  he  had  little  regard  lor  money,  and 
would  cheerlnlly  pai't  with  his  earnings  to  any  one 
who  might  solicit  assistauci'.  In  i'act,  so  heedless 
wa>  he  ol'  his  own  interests  in  this  respect  that 
it  wa>  I'onnd  neee>>ar\  I'oi-  his  I'rii'ud-  to  he  cun- 
staully  on  the  watch  lor  those  who.  knowing  ^Ih. 
Sk.wkk's  iveal'ness,  wcic  always  waiting  an  oj)- 
porluuity  to  bother  him  with  iheii'  sorrowful  tales. 
lie  was  considerate  and  good  natuicd  always, 
easil\     approached,    and    would     rt-assun-    with    a 


14  iJuigviiphy. 


smile  atid  a  Isind  word  those  wlio  might  otliciwist' 
l)c  disconcerted  hy  liis  im|>(tsii\i;-  presencf.  All 
the  employees  in  the  IwKS'rK.ATOK  ofliee  \ft\rd 
hiin,  and  cordially  accorded  to  liim  that  aihiiiia- 
tion  wiiich  true  gri-atness  ever  inspires. 

Since  tlie  deatli  of  his  wile  in  IS.IS,  Mk. 
Seaver  has  resided  in  his  brother's  family,  and 
to  his  sister-in-law,  Mi's.  Lydia  Seavei',  is  due  the 
thanks  of  all  Liberals  for  the  kind  care  slu'  has 
taken  of  ]SrK.  Seaver  during-  his  last  illness. 

He  was  one  of  the  i)i'onioters  of  tlu-  Paine 
Memorial  Building  enterprise',  and  was  President 
of  the  Paine  Memorial  Coi'poration  at  the  lime  of 
his  death.  It  was  cbietly  owing  to  his  hearty  and 
disinterested  support  tliat  ^Nfr.  Mendum  was  able 
to  save  the  building  Ibr  the  purposes  Ibi-  which 
it  was  intended.  This  will  always  renuiin  a  tem])le 
for  him  as  well  as  Mr.  Mendum,  and  as  long  a.s 
it  stands  will  reflect  ci'edit  to  both.  But  his  gi-eat- 
est  monument  will  I'Ver  be  The  Boston  Iwesti- 
OATOR;  for  whatever  the  pajier  has  been  for  the 
last  fifty  years,  he  has  made  it.  To  this  Avork  lii' 
has  concentrated  the  energies  ol'  his  intellectual 
life,  the  force  of  his  genius,  the  value  of  his  expe- 
rience. The  etiect  these  efforts  have  had  in  mould- 
ing   Liberal    thought    and    modifying   Puritanical 


^iogvaphij. 


15 


ideas,  it  is  impossible  to  cstininlc  ;  hut,  i("  tiu' 
eloquent  Iniicrsoll's  woids  he  ti-iic,  he  aiul  his 
iissoeiiites  ha\c  helped  to  |jl)ei-ali/e  a  (,'oiitiiieiit. 
As  l)rave  and  true  men  as  >[i;.  Si:a\i;i;  have 
stood  lor  tile  riii'ht,  as  honest  heaiMs  ha\e  sntlered 
lor  the  wcll'ai'e  ol'  mankind;  i)Ul.  in  oin'  opinion, 
no  philosopher  has  lived  in  whom  wisdom  and 
(■(»nra;4e,  (irnnu'ss  and  eonrtesv.  ha\c  heeii  moi'e 
happilv  Mended  than  in  the  iiolile  one  w  ho^e  lili' 
has  jnst  elihed  awav. 

As  his  life  \\a^  l)i'a\'e  and  i;'ood,  >o  was  his 
death  calm  and  philosophic.  I'^or  allhonuh  he 
has  known  for  some  wc(d\s  thai  death  was  ine\i- 
talile,  it  has  caused  him  no  trouMe  lieyond  the 
natural  reuret  that  he  nnist  pai't  with  Mr.  Meii- 
dmii,  and  w  a>  I'oreed  to  lea\e  the  scenes  of  earth 
which  he  so  hcaitilx  enjo\e(l.  When  he  leai'ned 
that  his  old  li-ieud  ( 'olonel  Inii'ersoll  woidd  >peak 
at  his  Cuiieral,  he  maiiiresled  a  po>ili\e  plea-ure. 
and  more  than  once  alluded  to  it  in  the  da\^  pre- 
ceding' ilis  di>solullou.  lie  died  a~-  he  lived,  a 
Fi'eethinkcr.  He  had  no  I'ailh  in  reliuiou^  ol'  anv 
kimi,  which  he  always  looked  upon  n^  hut  dill'ereut 
loi'ms  ol"  superstition.  Inn  he  did  po»e>-  in  a  rare 
decree  thai  lart;ei-  I'ailh  I  hat ,  wlialevcr  happened, 
living'    or    dead,    woidd    he    natural,    and    iherelore 


16 


iJiogvaphri. 


ri<j;'lit.  Tlic  (•(iin|ilaint  l'i-i>iii  w  liicli  he  sutl'crrd  was 
dropsy,  and  s'wwv  liis  liisl  attack.  la>t  .laniiai-y.  In- 
lias  hccii  ni'adually  lailiiiu'.  till  the  end,  w  liicli 
cauic  pcacclullv  and  calndv.  —  "JiJ.  ,1A" 


Ifxxncval  ^evinces. 


^uucval  ^evinces. 


I'liK  last  ceremonies  over  tlic  body  of  the  Ix-lovod  editor 
of  'riiK  iNVKSTKiATOK,  MoisACE  Skavkii,  wei'c  pciToniied  on 
Sunday  afternoon,  in  I'ainc  Hall.  Col.  Robert  0.  ln<jersoIl 
delivered  the  I'liiieral  address,  and  the  hall  was  packed  l>y 
sympathetic  and  sorrowing  friends,  —  imndreds  tiiriicil  away 
from  the  doors  being  unable  to  pass  through  the  dense  crowd 
that  tlironircd  about  the  entrance.  It  was  necessary  to  issue 
invitations  of  admission  a  lew  days  before  the  funeral  to 
special  friends,  in  order  tliat  tliey  might  be  assured  seats  in 
the  hall.  I-ong  before  two  o'clock  every  chair  was  lilled,  and 
soon  after  tliat  hour  the  doors  were  tinown  open  to  tlie  assem- 
blage in  the  .street ;  but  the  building  could  not  accommodate 
one  fpiarter  part  of  the  many  who  sought  admission. 

The  casket  stood  in  fi'ont  of  the  platform,  displaying  half 
tlie  ligure  and  the  features  of  the  deceased.  A  wreath  of 
Mowers  lay  at  the  heatl  of  the  cotlin  ;  a  bouipiet  reposed  on  the 
dead  Kdilor's  breast;  anil  then,  occupying  the  rest  of  the 
space  on  the  casket,  was  a  llorai  torch  wilii  the  inscription, 
"Gone  before."  A  line  crayon  portrait  of  Mil.  Skavek  rested 
on  a  draped  easel  on  the  lell  side  of  the  stage,  on  wliich  hung 
a  wreath  of  Mowers,  with  a  card  bearing  the  words,  "  A  good 
iieart  has  cca.sed  to  beat ;  a  great  heart  is  silent." 


20  ^xxucval  ^cvxUccs. 

The  rmu'ial  services  began  with  the  singing  of  the  follow- 
ing li.vmn,  i)y  tiic  Temple  liuartette. 


LAY    ME    LOW. 


Lay  me  low,  my  work  is  done, 

I  am  weary,   lay  me  low ; 
Where  the  wild  (lowers  woo  the  sun, 

Wlipie  the  balmy  breezes  blow; 
Where  the  butterfly  takes  wing, 
Where  the  aspens  drooping  grow: 
Where  the  young  birds  chirp  and  sing. 
I  am  weai7,   let  me  go. 

I  liave  striven  hard  and  long. 

In  the  world's  unequal  light, 
Always  to  resist  the  wrong, 

Always  to  maintain  the  right: 
Always  with  a  stubborn  heart 

Taking,  giving  blow  for  blow; 
Brothers,  I  liave  played  my  part  — 

I  am  weary,  let  me  go. 

Shield  and  buckler,  hang  them  up. 

Drape  the  standard  on  the  wall; 
I  have  drained  tlie  mortal  cup 

To  the  finish,  dregs  and  all. 
When  my  work  is  done,  'tis  best 

To  let  all  my  troubles  go: 
I  am  weary,  let  me  rest  — 

I  am  weary,  lay  me  low. 


g  u  1 0  CI  y . 

BY 

Col.  Robert  G.  Ingersoll. 


Horace  Skavkk  was  a  pioiu'iT,  a  torcli-ln'aivr, 
a  toiler  in  that  t;i-ca1  ticid  we  call  the  world,  —  a 
woi'ker  I'oi'  Ills  tellow-iiuMi.  At  the  end  of"  liis 
task  he  has  fallen  aslee]>,  and  we  are  nu't  to  tell 
the  story  of  his  lon<;-  and  useful  life,  —  to  pay  oni- 
tribute  to  his  work  and  worth. 

lie  was  one  who  saw  tlu'  dawn  while  others 
lived  in  ni<>^ht.  He  ki'|)t  lii<  face  towaid  the 
•■  pni'i)lin<i'  east,"  and  watched  ihe  coniini;'  of  tlie 
blessed  day. 

Ho  always  sunuiit  i'ur  li^ht.  Iii>  ulijeci  was 
to  know,  to  lind  a  ri'ason  for  hi>  faith,  —  a  fait  on 
which  to  build. 

In  sn|)er>tilion's  sand-  he  son<;"hl  the  <;eins  o|" 
trnlli  ;   in  superstition's  ni^hl  lie  looked  lor  stars. 

Born  in  New  En<;land,  —  reared  amid  I  he  cruel 
superstition-    of    his    ayi'    and    time,  —  lu'    had    the 


22  gulooy. 

iii;mli(>(i(l  Mild  the  cdnraiic  \n  iint'stig'atc,  .-111(1  lie 
liiid  tlic  iioodiicss  and  the  coiiragt'  to  tell  his 
hoiK'st  tliouylits. 

He  was  always  kind,  and  s(iiii;iit  to  win  the 
conHdcncc  of  nu'ii  liy  synipaliiy  and  lovr.  TIrtl' 
was  no  taint  or  tonch  of"  malice  in  his  blood.  To 
him  liis  fellows  did  not  si'em  (U'|)i-aved,  —  they 
were  not  wholly  bad.  —  there  was  within  the  heart 
oi' each  tiie  seeds  of  g-ood.  He  knt'W  that  back  of 
every  tlioii<ilit  and  act  were  forc-es  nncontrolied. 
He  wisely  said:  "  Circninstances  liirnish  the  seeds 
of  good  and  evil,  and  man  is  Init  the  soil  in 
which  they  gi-ow.''  He  fonglit  the  creed  and 
loved  the  man.  He  pitied  those  who  leai-i'd  and 
shuddered  at  the  thongdit  of  death,  —  who  dwelt 
in  darkness  and  in  dread. 

Tlu'  religion  of  his  day  filled  his  heart  with 
horroi'. 

He  was  kind,  compassionatt',  and  tender,  and 
conld  not  fall  n])on  his  knees  before  a  cruel  and 
revengeful  (iod,  —  he  could  not  liow  to  one  who 
slew  with  famine,  sword,  and  lire,  —  to  one  pitiless 
as  ])estilence,  relentless  as  the  lightning  stroke. 
Jehovah  had  no  atti'ibutes  that  he  could  love. 

He  attacked  the  ci'eed  of  New  England,  —  a 
creed  that  had  within  it  the  ferocity  of  Knox,  the 


^ixlogij.  23 

malice  of  Cal\in,  the  cruelty  of  Jonathan  Ed- 
wai'ds;  a  rdiyidii  lliat  had  a  iiioiistci-  for  a  (io(l; 
a  ri'liyion  wliosc  do<;-nias  would  have  shocked 
c-anMil)als  feast in<;'  upon  l)alH'.s. 

Horace  Skaveh  followed  the  light  of  his 
brain,  —  the  iin|)ulse  oj'his  heart. 

He  was  attacked,  but  he  answered  the  insultt-r 
with  a  smile;  and  even  he  who  coined  malig'iiant 
lies  was  treated  as  a  friend  misled.  lie  did  not 
ask  God  to  forgive  his  iMUMuies;  he  forgavt'  them 
him-elf. 

He  was  sineei-e.  Sincerity  is  the  true  and  per- 
fect mirror  of  the  mind.  It  rellects  the  honest 
thought.  It  is  the  loundation  of  character,  and 
without  it  tlieic  is  no  moi'al  grandeur. 

Saeri'd  ari'  tlu'  li])>  from  which  have  issued 
oidy  truth.  Over  all  wi'alth.  al)o\c  all  station, 
above  the  nolile.  the  robed,  an<l  tlu'  crowned,  rises 
the  sincere  man. 

Happy  is  the  man  who  neither  paints  nor 
patches,  veils  nor  veneers!  lilessed  is  he  who 
wears  no  uiasUI 

The  man  who  lie^  before  us  wra|)ped  in  pei-fec( 
peaci'  practised  no  art  to  hide  or  half  eouceal  his 
thought.  He  dill  not  write  or  ^peak  the  doidile 
wortls  that  might  be  useful  in  ri'ticat. 


'24  gulOfilj. 


He  gave  a  truthi'iil  transcrij)!  ol'  liis  muikU  ami 
souglit  to  make  liis  meaning  eleai-  as  light. 

To  list.'  iiis  own  words,  lie  had  "the  eourage 
whieh  impels  a  man  to  do  his  dnty,  —  to  hold  fast 
his  integrity,  —  to  maintain  a  eonseienee  void  ol" 
oftenee,  at  evei-y  hazard  and  at  every  saeriliee,  in 
defiance  of  tlu'  world."' 

lie  lived  to  ills  idi'al.  He  sought  the  ai)j)roI)a- 
tion  oC  himself.  He  tlid  not  huild  his  eharactcr 
upon  the  o])inions  of  others,  and  it  was  out  of  the 
very  depths  of  liis  nature  that  he  asked  tlu'  pro- 
found question :  — 

"  What  is  there  in  other  men  tliat  makes  us 
desire  their  a])])robation  and  fear  their  censure 
more  than  our  own?"" 

Horace  Seavki:  was  a  good  and  loyal  citizen 
of  the  natiu-al  republic,  a  l)eHever  in  intellectual 
hospitality,  <me  who  knew  that  bigotry  is  born  of 
ignorance  and  fear,  the  j)rovincialisms  of  tlu'  bi-ain.' 
He  did  not  belong  to  the  tribe,  or  to  the  nation, 
but  to  the  human  race.  His  sympathy  was  wide 
as  want,  and.  like  the  sky,  bent  above  the  suii'er- 
ing  world. 

This  man  had  that  superli  thing  which  we  call 
moral  courage.  —  courage  in  its  highest  form.  He 
knew  that  his  thoughts  were  not   the  thoughts  ol" 


iiiilogy.  25 

othei-s,  tliat  he  was  witli  tlic  few,  and  tliat  wlu-iv 
one  would  taki-  his  side,  thousands  would  \)v  liis 
caji^c'i-  foi's.  He  knew  tliat  wealth  would  seoni, 
and  cultured  iji^noi'anee  deride,  and  that  all  be- 
lievers in  tlie  ci-eeds,  butt i-essed  l)y  law  and  cus- 
tom, would  iiuil  the  missiles  of"  revenye  and  hate. 
He  knew  that  lies,  like  snakes,  would  fill  the 
pathway  of  ids  liie;  and  yet  he  told  his  honest 
thought,  told  it  without  hatred  and  without  con- 
tempt, told  it  as  it  leally  was.  And  so.  thiough 
ail  his  days,  his  heart  was  sound  and  stainless  to 
the  core. 

When  he  enlisted  in  the  army  whose  hannei"  is 
light,  the  honest  investigator  was  looked  upon  as 
lost  and  cui'st,  and  vvL'n  Christian  ci'iminals  held 
him  in  eontempt.  The  l)elieving  eml)i'//,ler,  the 
Orthodox  wife-hi'atei',  —  rwn  the  murdei-er, — 
lifted  his  bloody  hands  and  thanked  God  that  on 
his  soul  there  was  no  stain  of  unbelief! 

In  nearly  every  State  of  our  Republic  tlu'  man 
who  denies  tlii'  absurdities  and  ini])ossil)ilities  lying 
at  the  foundation  of  wiiat  is  called  <)rtliodo\  re- 
ligion was  denied  his  civil  rigiits.  IK"  was  not 
canopied  by  the  M'gis  of  the  law.  lie  >tood  lie- 
yond  the  reach  ol"sympathy.  He  was  not  allowed 
to    testify    a":ainst    the    invadt'r   of    his    home,    the 


2()  l;iilogu. 

seeker  for  his  life.  Ilis  lips  wi'i-c  closi'd.  He 
was  declared  dishoiiDi-alilc  hecaiist'  hv  was  honest. 
His  iinl)elief  made  hiiu  a  soeial  lc])er,  a  pariah,  an 
(Hitcast.  He  was  the  victim  of  I'cliiiious  hate  and 
scorn.  Arrayed  aj;ainst  him  wvw  all  tlu'  foix-es 
and  all  the  hypocrisies  of  society. 

All  mistakes  and  lies  wei'e  his  enemies.  Even 
the  Thi'ist  was  denounced  as  a  (listurl)t'i'  of  the 
peace  hecause  he  told  his  thoughts  in  kind  and 
candid  words,  llv  was  called  a  hlaspiiemer  l)c- 
eause  he  sought  to  rescue  tlu'  rejjutation  of  his 
God  from  the  slanders  of  Orthodox  priests. 

Such  was  the  bigotry  of  the  time  that  natural 
love  was  lost.  The  unhelieving  son  was  hated  hy 
his  pious  sire,  and  even  the  mothei-'s  heai't  by  her 
creed  turned  into  stone. 

Horace  Seavei!  ])ui-sm'd  his  way.  He  woi'kcd 
and  wrought  as  ])est  he  could,  in  solitude  and 
want.  He  knew  the  day  would  come.  He  livt'd 
to  l)e  rewarded  for  his  toil,  —  to  see  most  ol'  the 
laws  repealed  that  had  made  outcasts  oi'  tlie 
noblest,  the  Avisest,  and  the  best.  He  lived  to  see 
the  foremost  preachers  of  the  world  attack  the 
sacred  creeds.  He  lived  to  see  the  sciences  re- 
leased from  superstition's  eintch.  He  lived  to  see 
the  Orthodox  theologian  take   his  place  with  the 


3;xiUniU.  27 

prof'essoi-  of  till-  l)lacl<  ;irt.  tlu'  luit uiu'-tclUT.  and 
Hstroloj^ei".  He  lived  to  see  tlie  Ijest  and  greatest 
of  tile  world  a(cc|it  his  thouglit,  —  to  set'  the  theo- 
logian displaced  by  the  great  and  tiiie  priests  of 
Nature,  —  bv  ITuiulioldt  and  1  )ar\\in.  In  Huxley 
and  Haeekel. 

Within  the  nai-i'ow  coniiJass  of  his  life  the 
world  was  ehanged.  Tiu'  railway,  the  steauiship, 
the  telegraph,  made  all  nations  neighbors.  Count- 
li'ss  inventions  have  made  the  luxiu'ies  of  tlic  past 
tile  necessities  of  to-day.  1/dr  has  bern  rin'ichcd 
and  man  innoblcd.  The  gfeologist  has  read  the 
records  of  IVost  and  llamc.  of  wind  and  I'ain; 
the  asti'ononicr  lias  told  ilic  story  of  the  stars, 
the  biologist  has  sought  the  gX'rin  of  life.  —  and 
in  every  department  of  knowli'dge  the  torch  of 
science  sheds  its  sacred  light.  The  ancient  crci'ds 
have  grown  absurd;  the  miracles  are  small  and 
mean;  the  ins|)ired  book  is  filled  with  fables  told 
to  please  a  childish  woild.  and  the  dogma  of  tter- 
nal  pain  now   shocks  tlii'  heart  and  brain. 

He  li\fd  to  see  a  monument  unveiled  to  nriiiio 
in  the  cit\  of  K'ome.  —  to  (iiordano  Bruno,  —  that 
great  man  who  two  hundred  and  eighty-nine  years 
ago  sull'ered  death  by  lire  for  having  |)roclaimed 
the  truths   that    siuci-   have    Idled    the   world   with 


28  i'uloQiv 

joy.  He  livt'd  to  sih'  tlic  victim  of  tlu'  cIhu'cIi  a 
victor,  —  lived  to  see  iiis  ineinorv  lionoi-ed  by  a 
nation  freed  from  Pajjal  chains. 

He  worked  knowing  what  tlie  end  innst  he, — 
expecting  little  while  he  lived,  —  Init  he  knew  that 
every  fact  in  the  wide  universe  was  on  his  side. 
He  knew  that  truth  can  wait,  —  and  so  he  w<jrked 
patient  as  eternity. 

He  had  the  hiain  of  a  philosopher  and  the  heart 
of  a  child. 

Horace  Seaver  was  a  man  of  common  sense. 
By  th.at  I  mean  one  who  knows  the  law  of  aver- 
age. He  denied  the  Bible,  not  on  account  of 
what  has  been  discovered  in  astrcmoniy  or  the 
length  of  time  it  took  to  form  the  delta  of  the  Nile, 
but  he  compared  the  things  he  found  in  the  in- 
spired book  with  what  he  knew. 

He  knew  that  antiquity  added  nothing  to  prob- 
ability,—  that  lapse  of  time  can  never  take  tlie 
j)lace  of  cause,  and  that  the  dust  can  never  gather 
thick  enough  u])on  mistakes  to  make  them  ecpial 
with  the  truth.  He  knew  that  the  old,  by  no 
possibility,  conld  have  been  more  wonderful  than 
tin-  ni'W.  and  that  the  present  is  a  perjietual  torch 
by   whic-li   we   know   the   |)ast. 

To  him  all  miracles  were  mistakes,  whose 
parents  were  cunning  and  credulity. 


gulofjiv  29 

He  knew  that  iiiiraclcs  were  not,  because  tliey 
are  not. 

He  believed  in  tlie  sublime,  unbroken,  and  etei-- 
nai  march  ol'  causes  and  etlects,  —  denvinj;'  the 
cliaos  ol"  chanci'  and  the  caijricc  <il' power. 

lie  tested  tiie  past  l)y  tiie  now,  and  judged  of 
all  the  nu'n  and  races  of  the  woi'ld  I)y  tliose  he 
knew. 

He  believi'd  in  reli<;ion  ol'  I'rct'  tiiought  and 
good  deed,  —  ol'  character,  ol'  sincerity,  of  honest 
endeavor,  of  clieei'fid  lio|)i',  of  sympathy,  —  and, 
above  all,  in  tiic  religion  oi'  love  and  liberty, —  in 
a  religion  for  every  day,  i'or  the  world  in  which 
we  live,  I'or  the  pi'esent  ;  the  religion  of  i-oof  and 
raiment,  of  food,  oi'  intelligence,  <if  intellectual 
hospitality,  —  the  religion  that  gives  luallh  and 
iiappiness,  freedom  and  content,— in  the  nligion 
of  work,  and  in  the  ceremonies  ol'  honest  lalior. 
He  lived  foi-  this  world;  M"  there  be  anothci-  hi' 
will  live  for  that. 

He  did  what  he  coidd  for  the  destruction  of 
Feai'  —  the  destruction  of  the  imaginary  monster 
who  I'l'wards  the  few  in  heaven  —  the  monster 
who  tortures  the   many   in   perdition. 

He  was  the  friend  of  all  the  world,  and  sought 
to  civili/.c  llic  human  I'ace. 


30  l:\xUinil. 


For  mnvv  llian  fifty  years  ho  labored  to  free  the 
bodies  and  souls  ol' inrii,  and  many  thousands  have 
read  his  words  with  joy.  lie  sought  the  sutt'ering 
and  oppressed.  He  sat  by  those  in  pain,  and  his 
hand  was  laid  in  ))ity  on  the  bi-ow  ofdcatii. 

He  asked  only  to  l)e  treated  as  hv  tix-ated 
others.  He  asked  for  only  what  he  eainrd,  and 
he  had  the  manhood  to  cheerfully  aceej)!  the  con- 
sequences of  his  actions.  He  expected  no  reward 
for  the  goodness  of  another. 

Hilt  he  has  lived  his  life,  ^\'c  sjiould  shed  no 
tears  except  tiic  ti-ai's  of  gratitude.  We  should 
rejoice  that    lie   lived  so  long. 

In  Nature's  course  his  time  had  come.  The 
four  seasons  Avere  complete  in  him.  The  spring 
could  never  come  again.  Hi'  had  taki-n  life's 
seven  steps.     The  measure  of  his  years  was  full. 

When  the  day  is  done,  when  the  work  of  a  life 
is  finished,  when  the  gold  of  i-vening  meets  the 
dusk  of  night,  beneath  the  silent  stars  the  tired 
laborei'  should  fall  asleej).  T(»  outlive  usefulness 
is  a   doubU'  <leatli :  — 

Let  me  nol  live  after  my  flaiiie  laclcs  oil, 
To  be  the  snuff  of  younger  spirits. 

"When  the  old  oak  is  visited  in  vain  by  spring, 
w  lu'ii  liybt  and   rain  no  longer  tin-ill,  it  is  not  well 


J:uloQr|.  •  31 

to  stand  IcaHi'ss,  dcsolatf,  and  aloiu-.  It  is  hcltrr 
far  to  la  11  where  J^ature  sol'tly  c-ovcrs  all  with 
woven  moss  and  creeping"  vine. 

How  little,  al'ter  all,  wv  know  <>('  what  is  ill  oi- 
well!  How  little  of  this  wondi-ous  stream  of 
cataracts  and  pools  —  this  stream  oC  life  that  rises 
in  a  world  nukuown  and  Hows  to  that  mysterious 
sea  whose  shore  the  i'ool  of  one  who  comes  hath 
never  pressedl  How  lillle  of  this  liie  we  know  — 
this  stra":yliny  wav  of  li^hl  "twixt  "loom  and 
jj^loom,  this  sti-ip  of  land  hy  verdure  clad  hetween 
the  nid<nown  wastes,  this  throhliint;'  moment  lilled 
will)  love  atid  pain,  this  dream  that  iii's  between 
the   shadowy   shori's  of  sleep   and   death  ! 

We  stand  n|ion  lliisver<;"e  of  crnmhlint;'  lime. 
We  love,  we  ho|)e,  we  ilisapju'ar.  A<4"ain  we 
niinj;-|e  with  the  dnst  and  the  "knot  intrin>ccati'" 
forevei'  falls   apart. 

i)nt  thi>  we  know:  A  noble  life  enriches  all 
1  he  woi-ld. 

1I(H;.\(  !•:  Si;a\  i;i;  li\e(l  foi-  other-.  lie  ae- 
eepted  toil  and  hope  defcri'cd.  l*o\eity  was  lii- 
portion.  lake  Socrates,  he  did  not  seek  to  .idorn 
his  body,  i)nl  ralhci'  hi>  soul  with  I  lie  jewels  of 
charily,  modi-sty,  e<»uraye,  and.  abo\e  all,  with  a 
lo\ f  of  liberl  \. 


32  i'ulooij. 

Farcwt'll,  O  brave  and  modest  man! 

Your  lips,  between  wiiieli  trutli  Iniist  into 
blossom,  are  forever  elosed.  Your  lovinu,'  lieart 
has  ceased  t<>  heat.  ^ Oiir  busy  brain  is  slill,  and 
from  your  hand  has  dropped  the  sacred  torch. 

Your  noble,  sell-denying'  lili-  has  honored  us, 
and  we  will  honor  you! 

You  were  my  friend,  and  I  was  youis.  Above 
your  silent  clay,  I  pay  this  tribute  to  your  worth. 

Farewell ! 


Fxincval  ^evinces.  33 


At  the  conclusion  of  the  eulogj-  the  quartette  sang, 
"  I  am  Wandering  Down  Life's  Sliady  I'ath.'' 

After  the  singing  those  present  were  given  an  opportunity- 
to  take  a  final  look  at  the  face  of  Mr.  Skavkk.  Hundreds 
availed  themselves  of  this  privilege.  The  pall-bearers  were 
Messrs.  Wyzeman  .Marshall.  James  Parton,  Geo.  N.  Hill,  C. 
1'.  Somerhv,  .lolm  A.  0'Malle\'.  Russell  Marston.  and  Krncst 
Mendum. 

The  hearse  and  line  of  carriages  moved  to  Korest  Hills 
Cemetery,  where  he  was  laid  at  rest  at  his  mother's  side.  As 
the  funeral  procession  reached  Forest  Hills,  it  was  joined  l\v 
Colonel  Ingersoll's  carriage.  Friends  gathered  with  uncovered 
heads,  and  the  casket  was  lowered  into  the  grave  amid  a  deep 
silence.  Colonel  Ingersoll  stood  beneath  a  young  maple-tree, 
looking  with  sorrowful  interest  at  the  resting-place  of  his  friend. 
Those  present  evidently  expected  a  few  words,  but  a  feeling 
"  good -by  "  was  all  that  could  be  heard.  The  Colonel  was  too 
deei)ly  affected  to  say  more,  and  as  the  workmen  levelled  oil' 
the  grave,  and  loving  hands  laid  the  flowers  upon  it.  Colonel 
Ingersoll  and  the  assembled  friends  turned  siU-nlly  and  sadly 
nwav. 


^Icsohitious. 


JUsolutious. 


Al  ;i  iiirctiiiji'  1)1"  llic  Cliicatii)  Si'culni-  rninii, 
Proffssor  MilK-soii.  ('li;iinii;iii.  the  iulldw  iiiii'  I'l'so- 
lutious,  oIlriTil  In  inic  (il'diii-  iiu'IiiIk'I's,  vvciv  read 
l)y  Mrs.  M.  A.  Frccinaii,  ami  adopted  uiiani- 
inoiisly:  — 

Whereafi,  the  grand  army  of  Free  Thoiiglit  on  our  C'uiili- 
nent  has  recentlj-  sustaiiu'd  nii  irreparable  loss  in  tlu'  tlcatli  of 
Horace  Seaver,  the  veteran  editor  of  Thk  Boston  Invkstiga- 
Tou,  who  for  more  than  half  a  century  has  been  the  leader  of 
a  dauntless  host  of  men  and  women  enlisted  in  the  ennobling 
cause  of  human  rights  ; 

And  whereas,  Horace  Seaver,  as  a  man,  has  always  com- 
manded the  respect  of  his  associates  and  fellow-men,  and  has 
ever  been  deserving  at  the  hands  of  all  Freethinkers,  of  llic 
liighi'st  honor  for  his  uuscilish  devotion  to  the  principles  of 
mental  freedom  ; 

Rexnived,  That  we,  members  of  the  Chicago  Secular  Union, 
with  the  deepest  emotions  of  sorrow,  deplore  the  loss  of  this 
great  and  good  man  ; 


38  2tcsoUittous. 


Resolved,  That  we  lierebj-  extend  our  fullest  measure  of 
sympath)-  to  Josiah  P.  Mendum,  his  surviving  partner  and  co- 
worker in  a  long  and  wcU-fought  battle  for  the  rights  of  man  ; 

Resolved,  That  we  express  our  approbation  of  the  course 
of  The  Boston  Investigatok,  in  opposing  all  forms  of  slaverj', 
and  in  attacking  ecclesiastical  wrongs  and  abuses.     May  it  live 
to  see  truth  triumphant,  and  man  free,  the  world  over. 
Yours,  &c., 

Augusta  A.  Holmes, 

Secretary  C.  S.  U. 


The  following  resolutions  weir  !uloj)ted  by 
the  Tngersoll   Secular    Society:  — 

Wliereas,  The  Ingersoll  Secular  Society  has  met  with  an 
irreparable  loss  in  the  death  of  our  aged  friend  and  Brother, 
Horace  Seaver ; 

Resolved,  That  while  we  bow  to  the  inevitable,  we  deeply 
lament  his  loss,  not  only  to  our  Society,  but  to  the  world  ; 

Resolved,  That  we  hereby  express  our  respect  and  esteem 
for  our  late  President,  whose  kindly  presence  we  shall  miss, 
and  whose  wise  words  we  shall  hear  no  more  ; 

Resolved,  That  a  copj-  of  these  Resolutions  be  entered 
upon  the  records  of  our  Society,  and  that  a  copy  be  sent  to  The 
Boston  Investi(;atok,  and  the  Paine  Memorial  Corporation. 


+tcivucc  ^cuucv^s  oo\civU. 


Horace  f^caucv'S  Mloiii. 


Tlic  (listin<'uisliino;  characteristic-  of  IIokace 
Skavkk  was  ck'votiun  to  his  wdi-Ic.  OtiuT  men 
have  written  with  l)i'i<i,liter  and  strongir  pens 
a'j^ainst  the  reUgious  crimes  <il'  thi-  past  and  the 
relij^ions  follies  of  the  present;  no  man  has  writ- 
ten with  iimre  earnest  pnrpose  or  witli  "greater 
fidelity  to  principle  than  he.  The  stupendous 
lal)or  of  till'-  man  apiinst  the  Church  as  an  enemy 
of  human  iihcrty.  as  the  representative  of  false 
ideas,  can  never  lu-  measured;  hut  we  can  realize 
somewhat  his  miji^hty  work  when  we  rememl)er 
that  for  o\rr  tifty  yeai's  he  dealt  liis  sturdy  idows 
agaiu>l  wliat  he  believed  to  l)e  wi-ony.  and  lor 
what  he  believed  to  i)e  right. 

lu  all  ages  the  test  of  moral  eourage  ha>  been 
to  speak  oue's  houi'st  thoughts,  and  specially 
oiieV  I  lioughls  ii|t<>ii  religion-  subjects.  llouAcK 
Ska\  i:k  was  ne\er  asiiamed  of  his  conviclious, 
and   iievi'r  ali'aid  to   utter  them,      lie   lo>l    friends 


44  Boviicc  i^cuucv's  32Xovh. 

tliiit  wvvv  not  worth  kt'i'piiij;',  and  won  (rk'nds 
woi'tli  liavinij;-,  by  liis  tearloss  course.  IIo  illiis- 
fratcd  I)}'  a  lonu'  Hi'*'  'li'  l)ravi'  speakiiiy  tliat  a 
man  yains  most  hy  hi'ing-  time  and   lionost. 

It  is  sonu'limc's  said  of  a  man  tliat  Nature  in- 
tended liim  lor  a  minister  or  a  law3er;  hut,  how- 
ever tiiis  may  be,  it  is  a  very  difficult  matter  foi- 
a  person  to  decide  just  what  lie  is  inteiuled  t'oi'. 
The  tirst  choice  that  a  vouny  man  makes  of  a 
trade  or  occupation  may  not  always  be  the  best 
I'oi'  himst'li',  noi'  tlu'  one  wliich  he  is  best  adapted 
for.  It  is  a  fact  that  a  j:,'reat  many  men  have 
achieved  distinction  in  a  direction  contrary  to 
their  tastes  and  desires.  After  all,  it  matters 
less  where  we  work  than  how  wi'  work.  Genius 
finds  the  sky,  and  dullness  finds  the  ground,  no 
matter  if  the  one  is  born  in  a  palace  and  the  other 
in  a  hovel. 

It  may  be  true  that  IIokace  Seavek  would 
have  been  famous  as  an  actor,  had  he  adopted 
the  stage  as  a  profession,  to  which  he  was  early 
inclined,  as  he  has  confessed;  or  as  a  minister, 
had  he  studied  theology  and  entered  tlie  pulpit 
as  his  parents  wished,  for  he  possessed  talents 
that  would  Inive  adorned  almost  any  walk  or 
calling.       But    he    always    counted     it     fortunate 


Boviicc  i'Ciiucv's  (JiTlovh. 


45 


tliJit  111-  Ix'Cium'  a  |)riiitt'r;  and  once,  in  s])cakini;- 
on  tliis  suhjoct,  he  said:  "To  he  a  inintcr  is 
greater  tiian  to  lir  a  soldii-r,  or  an  actor,  and 
nuicli  lii'i'ati'r  than  to  l)c  a  minister."  It  st'onis 
as  though  iiis  iil'c-woi-k  was  dctcrniiniMl  lor  hint. 
Certain  it  is  tliat  iiad  iu'  cuti-red  nny  otiici-  print- 
ing-office than  that  oT  tlie  1xvksti(;at<)I!.  tlic  in- 
cidents that  fixed  lii>  caret'i'  wouhl  lia\  t'  hct-n 
nnknown  to  iiini,  or  hi'  wonlil  lia\r  ln-cn  so  sit- 
naled  as  not  to  Ik-  inlhienceil  \)\  them.  It  was 
the  step  into  an  InfiiU'l  ])rintin<;-office  that  settU-d 
the  part  that  II()i!A(  K  Ska\  Ki;  was  to  |il,iy  n|)on 
tile  stage  ol'  life.  Had  lie  apphed  lor  work  in  a 
Christian  otliee.  he  might  have  liecome  a  good 
piintei', —  he  niiglit  even  liave  l)eeonie  a  great  and 
good  man  outside  ol'  tiic  cliarmcd  circlr  of  ()rliio- 
doxy,  wherein  all  the  hnman  \  irlncs  are  supposed 
to  dwell;  hnt  he  would  not  lia\e  occupied  that  diili- 
eult,  hut  nohle,  i)ost  which  his  lilt-  has  adorned, 
and  with  which  his  iianie  is  idcntiHid. 

To  say  that  the  atnios|)liere  of  the  IwKsii- 
(;at<H{  ofliec  was  not  wholly  nucongeuial  to  iiis 
nature  would  hi' true,  although  he  had  not  iheii  at- 
tained tiiat  freedom  from  >ii|ii'rstilioii  iii;ii  ;illo\\ed 
him  to  accept  all  tlii'  sentiments  lh;it  lie  piil  into 
t\pi'.      The    soil,    lio\\e\ir,    \\a-    nearer    reail\    than 


46  Horace  ^caucv's  ?^ovU. 

Ill'  iniagiiKHl.  and  tin-  sci'ds  (jf  nu'iital  {'reeclom,  that 
wcri'  destined  to  boar  sucli  a  magniticent  harvest, 
fell  upon  ground  that  needed  hut  littU'  prepai-i- 
tion. 

Perhaps  the  one  ineident  that  hastened  to 
fruition  the  gi-owing  sentiments  in  thi'  mind  ol' 
Horace  Se.wek  was  the  eonvietion  ol"  Ahner 
Kneeland  for  blasphemy. 

Justice  was  a  })art  of  this  man's  nature,  and 
he  rejected  the  Christian  scheme  largely  on  ac- 
count of  the  inherent  injustice  in  the  logic  of  its 
dogmas.  He  wanted  the  right,  the  trui',  the  just, 
to  prevail,  and  the  work  of  his  jjen  and  voice  was 
always  hi  behalf  of  justice  to  man. 

When  Mr.  Kneeland  was  sent  to  jail  for  ex- 
pressing his  honest  dissent  from  the  Universalist 
idea  of  God,  the  last  cord  of  sympathy  that  bound 
iiim  to  Christianity  was  broken.  That  the  public 
avowal  oi'  one's  opinions  upon  religious  mattei's 
was  a  crime  punishable  with  imprisonment  shocked 
all  his  notions  of  equity.  Horace  Seaver  was, 
from  the  hour  that  Abner  Kneeland  passed  through 
the  door  of  the  jail,  an  avowed  enemy  of  the  Chris- 
tianity which  inspired  the  persecution  of  this  good 
man.  Referring  to  this  time  in  a  recent  address 
delivered  in  Paine  Hall,  Mr.  Seaver  said:  — 


Hovace  ^caucv's  SClovU.  47 


"I  was  in  tlir  ollicc  uluii  Mr.  Kiicilaiid  was 
sent  to  prison,  and  I  rcnicnibt'i-  one  day  going-  to 
the  Jail  to  visit  him,  and  looking  at  him  through 
the  prison  bars,  1  said  to  him.  '  Mr.  Kneelaiid,  I 
can  now  understand  what  Thomas  Jett'erson  meant 
when  he  said,  "  I  have  sworn  u|)on  tlie  altar  of  God 
eti'rnal  hostility  to  every  Torm  ol'  tyranny  over  the 
mind  of  man!"'  Mr.  Kneeland  said,  Oly  young 
friend,  always  swear  by  that  motto.'  I  havr  al- 
ways tried  to." 

When  Mr.  Seaveh  ix'tui-ncd  from  that  visit  he 
knew  what  his  work  was  to  be.  IK'  at  once  as- 
sumed llic  editorial  iiianagemiiit  of  the  Iwi'.s'n- 
<;A'I'(>k,  and  commnieed  thai  famous  battle  lor 
"universal  mental  liberty"  and  the  rights  of  man 
whieh  ended  <mly  when  he  was  coiKineicd  b\ 
dealli.  The  keynote  of  his  lile-woi-k  is  found  in 
these  wolds  of  his:  — 

'•  ( )iie  of  the  most  important  rights  which  hu- 
man beings  possess  abstractly,  and  which  ought 
to  be  guaranteed  to  tlu'in  by  the  society  of  whi<-h 
they  ai'c  members,  is  the  right  to  express  opinions, 
withont  fear  or  molestation.  That  men  onghl  lo 
possess  tlii>  righl.  not  only  as  a  matter  of  ab>tract 
justice,  but  as  a  mailer  of"  political  expediencv.  is 
a  proposition  that  carries  its  own  evidence  along 
with  it.  'I'lie  i-iglil  lo  ihiids  IVeel\  npoii  all  -nb- 
Jccts  belongs  to  us  nalnrall\.  and  no  govcinmeni 
can  deprive  us  of  it." 


48  Ho  face  ^caucv's  SClovli. 

HoKACE  Seaver  deleiulcd  this  i-ij;lif  willi  nil 
tlic  native  force  of  liis  intelk'ct,  and  with  a  tenac- 
ity that  is  certain  to  win  i-espect,  il'  not  \  ictory. 

We  do  not  claim  that  no  other  man  conhl  have 
done  the  woi-k  wliicii  Mi;.  Skavki;  did.  We  only 
claim  lor  him  the  credit  ol'  what  hi'  did.  IK' 
championed  an  nn)X)]>ular  cause;  he  sided  with  the 
wron<;x'd  and  oppressed,  with  only  one  thought 
to  i)rompt  his  act,  —  that  hv  was  doing-  right. 

This  is  a  high  motive  I'oi'  hmiian  action.  We 
to-day  enjoy  comparative  freedom.  It  is  easy 
now  to  speak  the  trnth,  —  easier  than  it  was  fifty 
year.s  ago.  We  are  eating  fruit  from  the  tree  that 
Horace  Seaver,  and  other  men  like  him,  set  ont 
half  a  century  ago,  and  which  they  watclu'd  witii 
jealous  care.  It  is  not  the  brilliant  effort,  but  the 
])atient  labor,  that  has  erected  human  monuments. 
It  is  not  the  lightning's  tlash,  Itul  the  constant 
radiance  ol'  the  sun,  that  lights  the  cai'th.  It  is 
not  the  daring  act  of  a  moment,  but  the  coui'age- 
ousness  of  a  lifetime,  that  overcomes  the  obstacles 
in  the  path  of  progress. 

We  may  not  be  able  to  point  to  any  particular 
act  of  Horace  Seaver,  oi-  pick  out  any  work  of 
his  pen,  that  shines  with  that  splendor  that  at- 
tracts the  eye,  but  we  can  do  something  I'ai-  better: 


HoviKC  i«c<i\)cv'6  MlovU.  49 

Wf  can  pdiiil  1(1  a  long  lili'  of  hnvd  and  noljle  toil 
for  the  iinj)r()vi'inc'nt  oi'  his  I'ellow-man.  Hokack 
Skavk,h  worked  every  day.  and  every  day  worked 
with  an  object.  Thiis  may  not  be  genius,  but  it 
is  greatness.  Such  work  nuiy  not  make  uuicli 
noise,  but  it  makes  life  sweeter  and  the  world 
l)etter. 

Fi'W  nun  have  gone  to  their  rest  who  liavc 
performed  their  part  with  more  honor  to  them- 
selves and  to  their  race,  than  this  man.  wlio  said. 
when  near  the  end  of  his  life  journey,  "Work  has 
never  Ikh'u  a  buiden  to  me,  l)ut  always  a  pleasure." 

L.  A'.   W. 


A    TRIBUTE    TO     HORACE    SEAVER. 


To  (lie!  'tis  liiit  to  rest, 
To  leavo  a  reeord  of  a  well-sponl  life, 

III  aid  of  the  opprest. 
Add  to  this  a  halo  of  undying  fame, 
A  gloiious  lile,  a  great  immortal  name, 

Indeed,  is  to  be  blest. 

This  has  been  thy  lot; 
Well  hast  thou  served  our  cause, 

No  selfish  aim  or  thought 
Was  ever  held  long  time  enough  to  trace 
A  line  of  envious  sordidness 

Upon  thy  noble  face. 

One  tear,  and  then  we  part, 
Each  to  the  station  that  claims  us  for  the  day  I 

One  sigh  that  wells  up  from  the  heart! 
Farewell,  benevolent  teacher,  thy  goal  is  won: 
Well  hast  thou  earned  a  sweet  and  dreamless  rest. 

Posterity  bless  thee  for  the  good  thou'st  done! 


Huou  C.  Robertson. 


HORACE    SEAVER- 
"fiuini:,  I'lni.osoiniEU,  .\ni>  friend.' 

Horace  Seaver,  no  deceiver, 

A  tniin  direct  in  all  his  ways: 
Strong  of  stature,  true  to  Nature, 

Fills  lie  the  measure  of  his  days. 
In  liis  history  there  's  no  mystery  — 

No  mylh  or  fetich  he  adored; 
He,  a  true  man,  loved  each  human. 

Anil  superstition's  shame  deplored. 

Horace  Seaveb,  high  believer 

In  every  sentiment  sublime; 
Iconoclastic  to  the  plastic 

Mud-balls  by  the  river  Time. 
Valiant  hater  of  the  traitor  — 

Dogmas  that  were  built  to  blind. 
Undismayed  "  Investigator," 

Faithful  to  the  rights  of  mind. 

Horace  Seaver,  with  the  lever 

Of  the  potent  printing  press, 
Man  has  lifted,  truth  has  sifted, 

An<l  found  the  liars  weighing  less 
Than  the  ashes  which  wind  dashes. 

Or  the  d\ist  from  thresher's  tlo(U-. 
Bore  in  vanguard  Freedom's  stamiard 

When  priestlings  mocked  at  temple's  door. 

HoitAcB  Skavkic,  rich  receiver 

Of  votive  homage  of  the  just; 
II is  to  show  forth  how  to  go  forth, 

By  owning  liight  the  only  iiKixt. 
Such  endeavor  wins  whatever 

E3tat4'  may  be  of  future  bliss 
Other  worlds  in;  his  lielteri'd  brother 

Attests  he  lilled  his  place  in  this. 

John  Prescott  (ii  ii.n 


'4'vilJtxtcs  fvom  the  ^Hcss, 


'tributes  from  the  grcss. 


From  the  Boston  Evening  Record. 

Regular  patrons  of  the  Kgleston  S(iiiare  cars  used  to  watch, 
some  inoiiths  ago,  for  a  dignilied  old  gentleman,  who  regularly 
boarded  the  car  a  few  streets  below  Dover,  and  always  at  the 
same  time, —  near  5  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  He  would  always 
be  found  patiently  waiting,  for  the  cars  are  few  and  far  between 
on  that  line,  and  his  long  white  hair  as  it  fell  upon  his  shoulders 
made  an  interesting  picture.  The  drivers  used  to  watch  for 
him,  too,  and  omitted  their  customary  glare  as  they  stopped 
just  where  it  would  be  most  convenient  for  the  old  gentleman 
to  get  aboard.  Slowly,  almost  painfully,  he  stopped  up,  and  if 
the  car  was  crowded,  as  it  usually'  was,  he  would  quietly  stand 
on  the  rear  platform  until  some  one  gave  him  a  seat.  More 
than  once  have  I  seen  well-dressed  ladies  surrender  a  seat  to 
him  ;  and  once  a  man  who  was  lame  and  wore  a  G.  A.  R.  badge 
stood,  that  the  foelile  old  body  might  have  a  comfortable  i)lace 
to  rest.  (Juietly  he  would  accept  these  courtesies,  and  then  sit 
without  seeming  to  see  or  notice  anybody  until  the  car  had  just 
passed  Dale  Street,  when  he  would  slowly  step  olT,  and  enter 
an  old-fashioned    house  almost  iiitldcn  by  an  immense  hedge. 

Every  ilny  he  was  seen  on  his  homewani  trip,  and  every 
day  the  journey  seemed  harder  for  him,  and  the  weight  of  four- 
score years  seemetl  almost  too  much  for  lii.s  feeble  body.     One 


56  J'vilnitcs  from  the  3Pvcss. 


da}-   we  missed  him,   and  the  next  he  did  not  come,  and  for 
months  the  familiar  face  has  not  been  seen. 

Yesterda\-  there  was  crape  on  the  door  of  the  old-fasliioned 
house  bej'ond  the  high  iiedge,  and  they  told  us  tiiat  IIohace 
Seaver,   the    Editor  of  the  Investigator,  was  dead. 


From  the  boston   herald. 

There  was  so  much  sterling  goodness  of  mind  and  heart 
in  this  eminent  and  self-made  Freethinker,  and  his  opinions 
have  been  so  honestly  and  fearlesslj'  expressed  for  the  last  fifty 
years,  that  he  has  commanded  the  respect  of  even  those  who 
differed  from  him.  lie  always  hit  square  -from  the  shoulder, 
and  3'ou  alwa3"s  knew  where  to  find  him.  What  was  weak  in 
the  forms  of  Christianity  with  which  he  was  most  familiar,  he 
did  not  hesitate  to  expose,  and  it  was  eas^'  to  see  why,  as  a 
very  pronounced  individualist,  taking  a  not  uncommon  view  of 
a  certain  type  of  Christianity  as  a  representative  of  the  Chris- 
tian religion,  he  was  led  to  glory  in  being  an  "  Infidel."  He 
belonged  to  a  group  of  men  who,  fifty  years  ago  or  less,  were 
eome-outers  from  Orthodox  Christianity,  and  felt  that  they 
had  reason  to  justify  their  action.  Among  them  were  Garrison, 
Phillips,  Parker,  and  Pillsburj-.  These  men  were  reformers  in 
politics  and  in  religion,  and  had  great  influence  during  the 
"reform  era"  in  New  Kngland  life.  Society  is  changed  to-day 
from  what  it  was  when  these  men  held  forth  most  successfully- ; 
but  forty  or  fifty  3'ears  ago  the  services  to  society  at  large  which 
these  men  rendered  cannot  he  too  highly  appreciated,  and 
among  them  j\1k.  Skavkr  held  a  high  and  iionorablc  place. 


i'vilnitcs  from  the  Stress.  57 


From  the  boston   advertiser. 

Mr.  IIorack  Skavkh,  of  liiu  iNVK^iTicAiOR,  whose  funeral 
occurs  to-morrow  at  I'aine  Sleiiiorial  Hall,  was  born  and  re- 
ceived his  education  in  this  city.  His  connection  with  the 
Agnostic  movement,  of  which  the  Investigator  is  a  leading 
exponent,  began  over  fifty  years  ago,  and  he  has  been  connected 
with  that  paper  as  its  editor  for  the  past  half  century.  It  is 
not  now  so  generally  known,  however,  that  Mr.  Seaver  was  at 
one  time  a  leader  in  the  labor  agitation  of  1840-1850.  He  was 
a  strong  advocate  of  the  ''ten  hours'  movement,"  and  helped 
the  agitation  by  every  means  in  his  power.  Again,  in  the  Free 
Soil  discussions,  preceding  the  war,  he  was  one  of  the  strongest 
friends  of  the  abolitionists.  At  a  public  meeting  of  the  Free 
•Soil  part}',  Mr.  Seavek  was  called  upon  to  speak.  Few  who 
heard  that  address  forgot  it  afterwards,  and  Mr.  J.  P.  Haile, 
who  presided,  came  over  and  shook  his  hand,  saying:  "  Young 
man,  if  you  enter  polities,  I  will  guarantee  that  you  will  be 
elected  to  Congress  in  the  course  of  time."  Among  the  last 
letters  written  to  Mu.  Seaver  was  the  following,  written  on  the 
announcement  that  his  recovery  was  despaired  of: 

"Friend  Seavek:  — 

"  We  are  thinking  about  you  all  the  time.  We  know  that 
vou  have  done  a  great  work,  and  that  in  the  course  of  Nature 
j-ou  have  reached  the  twilight  hour.  We  know  tins,  :ind  yet 
we  want  to  hold  yon  back  and  keep  you  with  us  for  many  years. 
lUit,  after  all,  it  makes  liut  little  dilference.  We  join  you  in  a 
little  while.  Only  a  moment  lies  between  the  lives  of  men. 
You  Lave  sowed  good  seed.  Others  will  reap,  and  bless  you 
for  your  noble  work.  K-  <!.   Inoersoli.." 


58  i'vlliutcs  from  the  ITvcss. 


From  the  Boston  Globe. 

Ill  the  death  of  IIokace  Skavek,  the  champion  of  Free 
Thought  in  this  cit^'  for  llie  past  fift}-  j-ears,  a  figure  passes 
out  which  is  of  equal  interest  to  those  who  agree  with  his  views 
and  those  who  do  not. 

The  deceased  editor  of  the  Boston  Investigator  is  a  land- 
iiinik  measuring  tlie  progress  of  New  England  toleration  for 
hall'  a  eenturj-.  Like  not  a  few  others  who  started  out  with  the 
intention  of  following  the  ministry,  Mr.  Seaver  was  led  to  turn 
down  the  opposite  road  through  an  event  in  this  city  which  to- 
day would  be  regarded  us  a  most  flagrant  act  of  intolerance. 

This  event  was  none  other  than  the  prosecution,  conviction, 
and  sentence  to  jail,  in  1838,  of  Abner  Kneeland,  formerly  a 
Universalist  ))reaeher,  on  the  charge  of  blasphemy.  The 
ardent  and  warm-hearted  Seaver  was  so  moved  b^'  this  act  of 
religious  persecution  that,  having  visited  Kneeland  in  prison, 
he  came  out  with  tears  in  his  eyes,  and  was  henceforth  a  pro- 
nounced Infidel.  When  Colonel  IngersoU  warms  up  in  his.  re- 
cital of  these  events  next  Sunday,  in  pronouncing  Mu.  Seaver's 
eulogy,  one  of  his  most  impassioned  efforts  may  be  looked  for. 

It  seems  almost  like  a  dream  to  look  back  fift}-  j-ears  in 
the  history  of  New  England  toleration.  The  times  that  locked 
Abner  Kneeland  in  a  felon's  cell  for  preaching  Pantheism 
will  never  return  again  in  this  country.  Toleration  of  all 
religious  beliefs  is  now  an  established  fact.  The  cardinal  teach- 
ings of  Christianity  remain  and  will  never  be  shaken  ;  but  men 
maj-  interpret  them,  each  in  his  own  way,  and  with  perfect  civil 
liberty  as  to  the  expression  of  his  views. 


Tvlbiitcs  fvom  the  JVcss.  59 


From  the  Banner  of  Light. 

The  Banner  joins  its  voice  with  the  m:ui3'  now  being  raised 
in  appreciation  of  the  life-work  of  that  veteran  apostle  of  Free 
Thought,  the  late  Hokace  Seavek,  a  brief  account  of  whose  life 
and  rejjorl  of  whose  obsequies  will  be  found  on  the  first  and 
fifth  pages  of  the  present  issue. 

Mu.  Seaveu  was  our  life-long  friend  ;  we  have  for  years 
admired  his  unllinching  attitude  regarding  the  theologic  creeds 
which  New  England  has  so  persistently  buttressed  with  forms 
of  law,  and  sentinelled  with  the  shibboleths  of  social  custom. 

Mr.  Seavek  rose  from  the  printer's  case  to  the  editoi-ial 
chair,  and  left  a  noble  record  in  whatsoever  department  of  life 
be  devoted  his  energies. 

Although  he  held  the  views  of  a  non-immortalist,  he  was 
ncvcrtlieless  open  to  consider  all  tilings  [lertaining  to  human 
welfare  ;  and  has  frequently  in  public  and  private  taken  the 
broadest  views  along  humanitarian  lines  ;  glimpses  of  his  inner 
nature  have  long  led  us  to  feel  that  within  his  iicart  of  hearts 
ho  was  a  conscientious  Agnostic  concerning,  not  a  bald  denier 
of,  tiic  possibility  of  a  continuous,  conscious  existence  for  the 
fellow-men  whom  he  so  much  loved  and  strove  to  benefit  while 
in  mortal  life. 

Mr.  Seaver  was  a  close  reader  of  The  Banner  of  Lifjht, 
Mr.  Meniluin,  the  publisher  of  the  Investk:ator,  (himself  an 
old  personal  friend  of  ours,)  once  stating  to  us  that  when  ii 
number  of  The  Banner  was  missing  Mu.  Seavek  seemed  dis- 
appointed, as  it  was  invariably  perused  by  him  on  the  Sabl)ath, 
as  a  sort  of  '•  Sunilay  Hilile." 


00  2^rilnxtcs  from  the  iPrcss. 


From  the  Peabody  Reporter. 

IIoKACE  Seaver,  editor  of  The  Boston  Investicatok,  died 
at  his  home  on  the  21st  of  August,  1889.  He  was  born  August 
25lh,  1810.  His  funeral  occurred  last  Sunday  at  Paine  Me- 
morial Hall,  Col.  Robert  G.  Ingersoll,  a  life-long  friend  of  his, 
pronouncing  the  eulog}'. 

For  the  last  half  ccntur}-  the  late  Horace  Seaver  has  been 
a  prominent  figure.  Like  many  other  Liberal  thinkers,  he 
started  out  in  life  to  follow  the  ministry',  and  undoubtedly 
would  have  continued  longer,  had  it  not  been  for  the  conviction 
and  sentence  to  jail  in  1838  of  the  Rev.  Abner  Kueeland,  for- 
merly a  Universalist  preacher,  on  the  charge  of  blasphemy'. 

Not  a  blemish  can  be  found  in  the  life  of  the  late  Editor 
Seaver.  He  was  upright,  honest,  moral,  truthful,  and  chari- 
table. He  was  ever  more  considerate  for  the  feelings  of  his 
religious  opponents  than  they  were  of  his. 

He  saw  good  in  everything,  and  respected  all  good.  No 
man  living  was  more  tolerant  of  the  views  of  others  than  was 
the  late  Mr.  Seaver  ;  but  he  had  expressed  a  doubt  of  the 
hereafter,  and  the  Christian  churches  showed  less  forbearance 
for  his  views  than  he  did  for  theirs. 

He  wished  for  that  happiness  in  a  life  after  death  as 
earnestly  as  any  one  ;  his  desire  to  meet  the  loved  ones  gone 
before  was  as  strong ;  he  was  anxious  and  alwa3"s  seekiug 
after  proof  of  that  glorious  immortalit\-,  but  the  shadow  of 
death  came  to  him  before  the  revelation  that  must  have  come 
to  him  now,  if  ever. 

If  he  was  not  ready  to  accept  as  much  by  faith,  if  the 


Jvilmtcs  fvom  the  jTvcss.  (51 


word  "hope"  had  a  diirerent  meaning  to  him,  he  was  not 
alone  ;  for  there  are  millions  standing  upon  the  platform  from 
which  he  has  just  stepped. 

If  accepting  the  Golden  Rule,  if  following  the  teachings  of 
the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  if  a  lielief  in  the  moral  law,  makes  a 
Christian,  the  late  Hokace  Seaver  was  a  Christian  in  the  full 
sense  of  the  word.  If  he  had  not  the  faith  and  the  hope  of 
the  Protestant  and  the  Catholic,  he  had  what  is  greater  than 
these  —  he  had  charity. 


From  the  Truth  Seeker,  (N.  Y.). 

It  is  with  feelings  of  the  profoiindest  regret  that  we  an- 
nounce to  our  readers  the  death  of  Horace  Seaver.  He  died 
just  before  noon,  on  the  21st  inst.,  at  his  residence,  No.  2727 
Washington  Street,  Boston.  He  had  been  troubled  with  an 
affection  of  the  heart  for  a  long  time,  and  for  some  six  months 
past  had  been  confined  to  the  house.  The  immediate  cause  of 
his  death  was  dropsy. 

What  are  the  feelings  that  must  be  touched,  and  the 
avenues  of  retlection  that  must  be  opened,  by  this  death,  our 
readers  feel  and  know  as  well  as  we.  Of  the  value  of  a 
life  like  that  of  Mb.  Seaver,  no  thoughtful  man  needs  to  be 
told.  In  a  world  where  most  seem  little  more  than  boys,  than 
unreasoning  automatons,  to  be  uianii)ulaled  by  false-hearted 
.schemers,  while  by  their  incapacity  all  have  to  sulfer  —  in  this 
world  Mi{.  Seaver  was  a  man  with  the  gift  of  reason,  to  sec 
under  appearances,  penetrate  shams,  pierce  to  the  inner  truth 
of  things  with  the  subtle  power  of  logic,  and  publish  Ut  his 
fellows  in  what  quarter  their  interests  lie. 


62  3'vlbutcs  from  the  iVcss. 


In  !i  world  where  moral  cowardice  and  base  spiritless 
disloyally  to  truth  envelope  and  well-nigh  extinguish  all,  Mr. 
Seaver  was  a  man  with  firm  and  intrepid  determination  to 
speak  out  his  truth,  in  total  disregard  of  all  the  sneers  and 
scoffs  and  disrespect  that  could  issue  from  angered  ignorance 
and  detected  fraud.  He  was  veracious,  he  was  frank,  he  was 
benevolent,  he  was  courteous,  he  was  gentle.  lie  was  an 
honor  to  our  cause,  he  was  an  ornament  to  his  generation,  he 
was  one  of  those  few  for  whose  goodness  we  learn  to  forgive 
the  shortcomings  of  the  rest  of  mankind,  and  love  it  after  all. 
To  say  now  what  would  have  rendered  superfluous  all  the  pre- 
ceding,—  he  was  a  friend  of  Robert  G.  Ingersoll.  Let  him 
have  honor  and  gratitude  and  remembrance, — and  let  all 
tr}-   to  be   like  him. 

From  the  boston   evening  Transcript. 

It  was,  no  doubt,  too  much  to  saj-  of  Mr.  IIorack  Seaver, 
who  died  }"esterda_v,  that  "he  had  Liberalized  a  continent" 
(as  had  been  said  of  him),  because,  in  the  broad  sense,  the 
Liberalization  of  the  continent  was  as  much  the  result  of  other 
forces  as  Mr.  Seaver  himself  was  ;  but  it  is  perfectlj-  certain 
that  his  fift3'  years  of  constant  and  intelligent  work  in  a  single 
channel  must  have  borne  much  fruit.  Ilis  editorship  of  The 
Investigator  was  a  story  which  had  two  chapters,  the  one  much 
unlike  the  other.  The  first  was  a  record  of  resistance  and 
struggle,  in  which  the  prison  doors  which  had  closed  behind 
Abner  Kneeland,  the  paper's  first  editor,  ma}-  be  said  to  have 
haunted  the  vision  of  its  editor.  Its  second  epoch  was  one  in 
which  the  paper's  existence  came  to  be  almost  overlooked  in 
the  tumult  of  a  Free  Thinking  generation.     Mr.  Seaver's  life 


at 


i'vibiites  from  the  i'vcss.  63 


was,  like  that  of  manj'  other  Freethinkers,  a  proof  that  the  pre- 
dominance of  a  master-idea,  a  strong  conviction  in  the  mind, 
has  an  effect  at  once  elevating  and  steadying  upon  the  char- 
acter ;  and  that  it  seems  to  make  not  much  dilference  in  the 
result  upon  conduct  whether  this  conviction  is  of  the  positive 
or  the  negative  sort.  For  fifty  years  he  worked  side  by  side 
with  his  venerable  associate  on  The  Investigator,  Mr.  Men- 
dum  ;  and  throughout  that  time,  it  is  said,  there  had  never  been 
the  slightest  l)reak  in  the  pleasantness  of  the  relations  between 
the  two  men.  Mr.  Seavek's  career  saw  the  end  of  the  church 
militant,  and  the  establishment  of  sj'stems  of  thought  upon  the 
basis  of  thought ;  and  toward  the  accomplishment  of  such  a 
result  few  men  or  women  of  the  present  epoch  have  contributed 
more  largely  than  he. 


B      F.    UNDERWOOD,    IN    PORTLAND   OREGONIAN. 

FIoKACK  .Si'.AVKK,  of  Hostou,  wliosc  dculli  Occurred  yester- 
day, was  in  some  respects  a  remarkable  man.  Your  dispatch 
says  that  he  was  70  years  old.  lie  was  nearly  eighty.  For 
more  than  fifty  years  he  was  editor  of  The  Boston  Investigator, 
of  which  Abner  Kncehmd  was  the  first  editor,  and  during  all 
this  time  not  a  numlier  of  the  paper  appeared  without  edito- 
rials from  Mr.  Shaver's  pen.  He  was  a  printer  by  trade,  and 
took  great  pride  in  his  craft,  and  until  the  last  few  years  he 
put  most  of  his  editorials  in  type  without  writing  a  word  of 
them. 

Ilia  style  had  a  natural  diguily  ninl  :i  Uen.  Franklin  sort 
of  simplicity.  He  was  an  admirer  of  Shakespeare,  and  quoted 
often  from  him  in  writing  and  speaking.     Mit.  Skavku  was  an 


64  2^t*ilnxtcs  fx'om  the  5%-css. 


eloquent  and  effective  speaker,  and  had  he  cultivated  iiis 
oratorical  and  dramatical  talents,  and  exercised  them  in  some 
popular  field,  tiiev  would  doubtless  have  gained  for  iiini  a 
reputation.  The  most  touching  funeral  address  I  ever  beard 
was  one  in  which  Mr.  Seavkk,  over  the  dead  body  of  a  friend, 
paid  a  tribute  to  iiis  meinoiv.  lie  never  tired  of  dwelling  on 
the  great  efforts  of  Webster  and  Phillips.  The  latter  he 
thouglit  the  most  polished  and  perfect  orator  of  modern  times. 

Mr.  Seaver  was  a  man  of  simple  habits  and  unostentatious 
life.  His  naturally-  generous  and  charitable  disposition  made 
him  ever  read}'  to  overlook  the  mistakes  and  infirmities  of  his 
fellow-men. 

Mr.  Seaver's  philosophy  was  that  of  "  conmion  sense  ;" 
and  he  cared  little  for  idealistic  theories  or  metaphysical  specu- 
lations. "  One  world  at  a  time  "—an  expression  which  Colonel 
Ingersoll  and  others  have  made  famiUar  to  the  public  the  last 
few  years  —  was  Mr.  Seaver's  motto  half  a  centur}'  ago,  and 
he  never  changed  it.  During  all  these  3'ears  The  Investigator 
advocated  unsectarian  schools,  the  removal  of  disabilities  on 
account  of  religious  belief,  the  taxation  of  church  propertj", 
and  the  complete  secularization  of  the  State.  It  spoke  out 
boldly  for  many  of  the  reforms  that  have  triumphed,  and  for 
others  that  have  passed  through  the  period  of  execration,  when 
it  required  rare  moral  courage  to  give  them  support.  Even 
those  who  ma}'  think  they  have  reason  to  regret  Mr.  Seaver's 
opposition  to  Christian  beliefs  and  authorities  cannot  withhold 
admiration  of  his  character,  loyaUy  to  his  convictions,  and 
brave  defence  of  many  a  struggling  reform. 


i'vibiitcs  fvom  the  i%-css.  65 


H.  L.  Green,  in  the  Buffalo  'N.  Y.'  Courier. 

Tlie  telegiaijli  inCorins  iiiu  tliiit  IIohack  Seaver,  tho  editor 
of  The  Boston  Investicatok,  is  dead.  It  is  probable  that  not 
many  of  your  readers  iiuow  who  Horace  Seaveu  was  ;  but  to 
liiose  of  them  who  are  known  as  Freethinkers  the  information 
will  be  received  with  sadness,  for  next  to  Col.  Ingersoll  he  was 
without  doubt  the  most  distinguished  Freethinker  in  America. 
And  at  his  doatli  ho  was,  I  think,  the  oldest  editor  in  this 
country.  He  had  edited  The  Boston  Investigator  for  over  50 
years.  It  was  announced  in  that  paper  last  week  that  that 
issue  was  the  only  one  that  had  appeared  for  the  last  50  years 
tiiat  did  not  contain  an  editorial  from  Mh.  Seavek's  pen.  A 
few  weeks  ago  I  wrote  for  the  Freethinker's  Magazine  of  this 
city  a  biographical  sketch  of  Horace  Seaver.  I  am  sure  it 
would  gratify  many  of  his  friends  and  admirers  in  Western 
New  York  if  you  would  give  it  place  in  j'our  columns. 


FROM   THE    MARLBORO'  (MASS.    TIMES. 

The  grandest  piece  of  elegiac  eloquence  and  Ihrenctic 
oratory  we  ever  heard,  or  remember  to  have  read,  was  the 
eulogy  proiKJUiii-cd  by  Col.  Robert  (!.  Injicrsoil  o\cr  the  ilead 
body  of  his  and  huniauity's  friend,  Horace  Seaver,  the  editor 
of  the  iNVK.sTKiAToK  aiid  one  of  the  best-known  Inlidcls  in  the 
world,  at  Paine  Memorial  Hall,  Boston,  last  .Sunday  afternoon. 
No  abstract  we  could  make  of  the  finisiicd  work  would  do  any 
sort  of  justice  to  it,  and  nothing  we  could  say  of  Horace  Seavku 
would  even  faintly  express  the  high  estimation  in  which  we 
held  that  scholar,  hero,  and  [jhilanthropist ;  but  next  week  we 
will  give  Col.  Ingersoll's  oration  in  full,  and  we  beg  leave  to 
bespeak  its  careful  perusal. 


66  Tvibxitcs  from  the  i'vess. 


From  the  la  Salle  (Illj  republican. 

The  Boston  Investigator  of  August  28th  contained  the 
obituary  of  its  venerable  editor,  Horace  Heaver,  who  died  on 
the  21st,  in  his  79lh  j'ear.  Mu.  Seaver  was  well  known,  by 
reputation,  to  millions  of  his  countrymen,  as  well  as  to  many 
in  other  lands  ;  but  such  was  his  retiring  nature,  and  so  seldom 
did  he  venture  awaj-  from  home,  that  the  number  who  were  per- 
sonally acquainted  with  him  was  limited  to  a  comparatively 
small  circle,  embracing,  however,  man}'  of  the  brightest  and 
best  men  of  his  time,  —  such  as  Emerson,  Garrison,  Greeley, 
Sumner,  Parker,  Phillips,  and  others  of  like  school, — and  in  all 
the  qualities  that  make  men  great  he  was  their  peer.  All  good 
men  and  women  who  ever  had  the  pleasure  of  his  acquaintance, 
among  all  classes  whose  friendship  was  worth  having,  were  his 
steadfast  friends. 

The  writer  spent  one  year  of  his  apprenticeship  in  the 
office  of  the  Investigator  when  Mr.  Seaver  was  in  his  prime, 
a  dozen  or  fifteen  years  after  he  became  the  editor.  The  office 
was  then  in  the  loft  of  a  dingy  old  building  at  No.  35  Wash- 
ington Street,  —  if  our  memory  is  correct,  —  not  far  from  Corn- 
hill.  The  paper  and  its  conductors,  as  well  as  the  cause  they 
were  engaged  in,  were  not  popular  at  that  time  :  it  was  a  deadly 
warfare  of  the  forces  of  truth  and  reason  against  the  cohorts  of 
error  and  superstition  in  league  with  church  and  State  and  in 
possession  of  all  the  strongholds  and  positions  of  advantage, 
and  it  was  a  great  struggle  on  the  part  of  the  proprietor,  Mr. 
J.  P.  Mendum,  the  worthy  and  noble  co-laborer  with  Mr.  Sea- 
vEK,  to  maintain  headway  on  the  gallant  Investigator.  But 
if  the  progress  made  was  slow,  it  was  sure,  and  it  is  consola- 


^vtbiitcs  fvoiu  the  gvcss.  07 

tory  to  know  thiit  tliose  good  men  liave  Iheci  to  witness  the 
success  and  continnally  increasing  strength  of  the  cause  to 
which  they  devoted  their  lives. 

For  years  the  Investigator  has  been  firmly  established  in 
one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  substantial  edifices  in  the  city  of 
Boston,  known  as  the  I'ainc  Memorial  Building,  and  the  paper 
circulates  wherever  the  English  language  prevails.  Mr.  Seaver 
was  a  printer,  and  at  the  time  we  speak  of  performed  the  daily 
task  of  a  compositor.  Xow  and  then  some  of  the  friends  would 
call  in  to  chat  with  him  on  the  cause,  among  whom  were  Tyler 
Parsons,  Otis  Clapp,  James  M.  Beckett,  Parker  Pillsbury,  and 
Rev.  Walter  Balfour,  and  their  conversation  was  equal  to  a 
Lil)eral  education  to  such  as  had  the  pleasure  of  listening  to  it. 

Mk.  Skaveu  had  the  habit  of  setting  up  in  type  many  of 
his  editorials  witliout  even  writing  a  word  of  them,  taking  his 
composing  stick  and  setting  column  alter  column  "  out  of  his 
head,"  so  to  speak  ;  yet  so  clear-headed  was  he  that  the  articles 
thus  composed  were  among  the  most  comprehensive,  solid, 
terse,  and  logical  contributions  to  the  Liberal  literature  of  the 
time,  and  their  truths  are  still  thundering  and  reverberating 
around  tlie  fastnesses  of  superstition,  and  will  continue  to  shake 
up  the  heathen  until  the  niillciinuiin  of  Universal  Mental  Liberty 
reigns  over  all  mankind. 

Mr.  Sbaver  was  a  broad-gauged  man  of  the  highest  men- 
tal calibre.  Had  ho  devoted  himself  to  politics  he  would  liave 
a<-hieved  a  fame  cc|Ual  tf)  that  of  any  of  the  great  statesmen  of 
his  native  Commonwealth.  In  battling  for  the  cau.se  he  so 
honestly  believed  in,  he  did  not  indulge  in  jest  or  scoff  at  the 
blindness  of  the  victims  of  error  ;  he  sought  rather  to  illuniinnte 
their  minds  with  the  light  of  reason  and  truth  ;  he  was  friendly. 


68  Jl'vibutcs  from  the  ^vcss. 


kind,  and  courteous;  in  favor  of  hearing  all  sides;  open  to 
conviction,  but  irresistible  in  the  force  of  his  arguments,  which 
no  man  was  ever  able  to  withstand.  He  was  philanthropic  in 
the  highest  degree,  and  not  only  willing,  but  anxious  to  help 
along  an}'  good  cause,  no  matter  if  it  were  conducted  even 
under  the  auspices  of  sectarians  with  vyhom  he  did  not  frater- 
nize ;  if  it  was  of  a  progessive  and  elevating  tendency,  it  had 
his  heartj-  support.  When  Father  Matthew,  the  great  Irish 
apostle  of  temperance,  came  to  Boston,  Mr.  Seaver  was  among 
the  foremost  in  receiving  and  entertaining  him  while  there.  He 
believed  in  temperance  in  all  things,  but  was  no  prohibitionist, 
believing  not  in  reforming  mankind  by  statutory  enactments. 

He  was  also  a  stalwart  champion  of  the  rights  of  labor, 
and  his  co-operation  was  often  sought  in  behalf  of  those  strug- 
gling under  the  oppression  of  monej'  tyrants.  We  have  lis- 
tened to  the  great  orators  of  Massachusetts  in  Faneuil  Hall, 
Everett  and  Webster,  Choatc  and  Phillips  ;  but  never  did  we 
hear  the  principles  of  right  and  justice  and  the  true  gospel  of 
freedom  expounded  by  any  one  of  them  with  half  the  ability, 
clearness,  and  eloquence  that  was  manifested  by  Horace  Seaver 
in  a  fifty  minutes"  speech  in  that  old  "  Cradle  of  Libertj'," 
during  a  strike  of  one  of  the  labor  organizations  in  Boston. 

Doubtless  Mr.  Seaveu  had  his  faults,  as  all  men  have,  but 
few  have  left  a  clearer  record.  No  man's  conduct  was  ever 
more  thoroughly  squared  by  the  Golden  Rule  than  his.  He 
won  not  renown  amidst  scenes  of  carnage  on  fields  of  battle, 
nor  in  high  official  station  ;  but  the  power  of  his  influence  upon 
human  destiny,  working  as  silently  and  unseen  as  the  life- 
giving  principle  in  Nature,  cannot  be  estimated.  It  is  not  too 
much  to  say,  that  the  world  is  as  much  indebted  to  Horace 


i'vilmtcs  from  the  iiHcss.  09 


Seaver  as  to  any  mail  for  the  enlargement  of  the  l)oundaries 
of  political,  social,  and  religious  freedom,  and  for  the  greater 
progress  and  iiappiness  enjoyed  hy  mankind  during  the  last 
iialf  century.  The  loss  of  such  a  man,  though  he  may  have 
passed  the  allotted  span  and  (inished  his  work,  cannot  be  con- 
templated without  feelings  of  profound  sadness. 


From  the  Peabody  (Mass.'  Reporter. 

HoKACE  Seaver,  the  venerable  editor  of  The  Boston 
Investigator,  a  few  weeks  ago  allowed,  for  the  first  time  for 
more  than  half  a  century,  the  Investigator  to  appear  without 
an  editorial  IVom  him.  He  has  been  in  failing  health  for  years. 
Every  reader  of  the  Investigator,  and  every  one  who  is  per- 
sonally acquainted  with  Mr.  Skaver,  will  unite  in  a  hearty 
wish  for  his  speedy  return  to  good  health.     ♦     ♦     ♦ 

Since  our  reference  to  the  editor  of  the  Investigator 
was  put  in  type,  all  that  was  intellect  and  life  in  Horace 
Seaver  has  passed  away.  lie  knows  now  if  any  one  does  of 
tile  hereafter. 


From  the  Boomerang.  Laramie   Wyo.  Ter.^ 

Horace  .Seaver,  well  known  as  the  editor  of  The  Huston 
Investigator,  is  dead.  He  was  a  strong  Anti-Slavery  man, 
and  was  a  warm  friend  of  Wendell  Phillips,  Parker  Pillsbury. 
and  William  Lloyd  Garrison.  At  the  funeral,  Sunday,  in  raiiie 
.Memorial  Hall,  a  eulogy  was  pronounced  by  Colonel  U.  (>. 
Ingersoll.  , 


70  a'vlbutcs  from  the  ^vcss. 


FROM    FREE   THOUGHT     SAN    FRANCISCO). 

Last  Sunday  afternoon,  sa3-s  a  brief  dispatch  in  :i  morn- 
ing paper,  the  funeral  of  Horace  Seaver,  late  editor  of  The 
Boston  Investigatok,  was  held  in  Paine  Memorial  Hall. 
Colonel  IngersoU  delivered  the  eulogy,  according  to  the  re- 
quest of  the  deceased. 

So  passes  away  the  oldest  Liberal  editor,  and  the  editor 
of  the  oldest  Liberal  paper  in  the  world.  We  cannot  say  that 
he  has  passed  to  a  higher  life,  because  we  do  not  know  ;  but 
to  us  it  seems  there  could  be  no  higher  life  than  that  which  he 
led  as  the  advocate  of  religious  liberty  and  the  enemy  of  super- 
stition. 

Mr.  Seaver  left  but  brief  records  for  the  use  of  his  biog- 
raphers. He  did  not  tell  of  his  troubles,  for  during  the  past  few 
years  he  suffered  much  more  than  the  readers  of  his  paper  were 
permitted  to  know.  In  1888  a  volume  of  selections  from  his 
writings,  edited  by  L.  K.  Washburn,  was  published  under  the 
title  of  "  Occasional  Thoughts."  It  would  seem  that  this  should 
have  included  at  least  a  brief  sketch  of  the  life  of  so  remarka- 
ble a  man,  but  it  did  not.  We  know,  however,  that  in  early- 
life  Mr.  Seaver  learned  the  printer's  trade,  and  that  when  in 
consequence  of  religious  persecution  Mr.  Kneeland  was  obliged 
to  sever  his  connection  with  the  Investigator,  Mr.  Seaver  and 
his  associate,  Josiah  P.  Mendum,  assumed  control  of  it,  tlie 
one  as  editor  and  the  other  as  pulilisher.  For  more  than  fifty 
years  thereafter  no  issue  of  the  Investigator  appeared  that 
did  not  contain  something  from  the  pen  of  Horace  Seaver. 
In  early  life,  we  are  told,  Mr  Seaver  married  a  lady  with 
whom  he  lived  in  unalloj'ed  happiness  until  her  death.  He 
never  remarried. 


^'vilnxtcs  fvom  the  2*vc6b.  71 

We  hope  that  a  full  and  faithful  account  of  the  life  and 
labors  of  Horace  Seaver  will  be  written  and  published.  It 
would  be  a  most  instructive  and  helpful  work.  lie  pos- 
sessed more  than  ordinary-  powers  either  as  a  writer  or  an 
orator.  He  did  not  achieve  what  the  world  calls  great  suc- 
cess. He  held  no  high  office  of  position  or  power.  He  had 
a  broad  and  capacious  mind,  a  good  memory,  the  faculty  to 
apply  an  observation  where  it  would  have  the  most  force,  a 
lidelity  to  facts,  an  equable  temper,  a  ready  pen,  and  a  good 
address  as  a  public  speaker.  He  was  as  faithful  as  the  sun, 
and  these  qualities  won  for  him  from  thousands  the  high 
esteem  and  the  love  which  tiie  genius  and  talent  of  more 
brilliant  men  has  failed  to  gain,  though  applied  to  upholding 
sacred  errors  and  flattering  the  vanity  and  ministering  to  the 
prejudices  of  the  world.  As  a  lesson  and  an  inspiration,  his 
life  is  not  surpassed  by  that  of  any  character  which  this  century 
has  produced. 

ViEux  Temps,  in  Hampshire  County  Journal. 

The  death  of  Horace  Seavkk,  for  til\v-one  years  editor 
of  The  Boston  Investigator,  is  a  marked  event  in  the  history 
of  journalism.  The  long  ])eriod  for  which  this  man  has  advo- 
cated, almost  single-handed,  against  sneers,  cruel  misrepre- 
sentation and  abuse,  the  Liberal  sentiments  of  his  well-known 
predecessor,  Abner  Kneeland,  has  witnessed  a  tremendous 
revolution  of  pulilic  sentiment  in  New  Kngland  touching  theo- 
logical matters,  in  which  Mr.  Skavkr  has  borne  a  prominent 
and  honorable  part.  Of  a  calm,  judicious,  and  sinc^ere  tem- 
perament, he  has  courageously  and  persistently  vindicated, 
through  constant  difficulties  and  discouragements,  the  incsti- 


72  JTvlbutcs  from  the  ^^vcss. 


mablc  right  of  free  discussion  on  all  disputed  questions,  with- 
out malice  or  detraction  of  his  theological  opponents,  and  never 
losing  the  serenity'  of  his  temper.  The  Invkstigatou  will  he 
fortunate  if  it  shall  find  an  editorial  successor  who  will  display 
equal  wisdom,  prudence,  and  trutlil'ulness. 

His  death  brings  to  mind  my  brief  acquaintance  with 
Abner  Kneeland  in  1.S42-3.  He  was  tiien  residing  at  Salubria, 
a  precinct  of  Farmington.  Van  Buren  Co.  (Iowa),  and  fre- 
quently visited  the  main  village.  His  personal  appearance 
was  verj-  striking  and  prepossessing.  With  snow-white  hair, 
cheeks  full  and  ruddy  as  those  of  a  boy,  and  active  movement, 
he  did  not  seem  to  be  past  the  age  of  fift\'.  I  had  previousl}- 
known  of  his  experience  in  Boston,  and  wished  to  learn  from  his 
own  lips  some  account  of  it.  Space  forbids  anj-thing  like  a 
full  recital  of  what  I  learned  from  him.  More  than  fifty  years 
ago  he  was,  as  editor  of  the  Investigator,  prosecuteil  for 
blasphemy,  and  sentenced  to  imprisonment  and  fine  The 
prosecution,  strange  to  say,  or  now  believed,  was  instigated 
by  some  fanatics  whose  names  I  cannot  recall.  The  so-called 
blasphemous  words,  elicited  during  an  editorial  controvers}' 
between  the  Investigator  and  a  Universalist  journal,  were  — 
"  The  Universalists  believe  in  a  God  which  I  do  not,"  evidently 
meaning  that  he  did  not  believe  in  the  kind  of  God  that  the 
Universalists  did.  It  is  said  that  the  compositor  placed  a 
comma  before  the  pronoun  "which  "  that  altered  the  sense  of 
the  phrase,  and  made  it  appear  as  a  disbelief  in  an}-  God. 

Mr.  Kneeland  was  not  an  Atheist.  He  believed  in  a 
governing  power,  but,  like  a  sensible  thinker,  would  not  under- 
take lo  doflne  it  logically  or  mathematically.  He  was,  even  at 
that  early  day,  an  Agnostic,   when    the  term,  even,   was  not 


Jl'vibutcs  fvom  the  ih*c5s.  73 


khown.  lie  endured  his  term  of  imprisonment  and  paid  iiis 
line  witli  perfect  equanimity,  and,  when  released,  went  on  in 
the  same  course  This  outrageous  prosecution,  so  disgrace- 
ful to  its  instigators  and  tlie  State,  is  now  viewed  with  wonder, 
astonislmiont,  and  indignation.  Tlie  abominable  enactment 
under  wiiich  this  com  iction  was  ol)taincd  still  stands  upon  the 
statute  books  of  Massachusetts,  —  a  dead  letter  to  all  intents 
and  purposes,  but  none  the  less  an  atfront  to  an  enlightened 
(niblic  sentiment. 

Mr.  Kneeland  was  not  permitted  to  remain  wholly  in 
quiet  in  his  new  home.  At  an  election  in  August,  1842,  one 
of  the  candidates  for  election  to  the  Legislature,  a  personal 
Ibllower  of  Mr.  Kneeland's,  was  piiblic'ly  insulted  and  driven 
■from  the  hustings  at  Farraington  ;  and  on  the  evening  of  elec- 
tion day,  Mr.  Kneeland  was  hanged  and  l)urned  in  efligy  by  a 
score  of  rougiis,  on  the  most  pul)lic  thoroughfare.  I  saw  him 
the  next  morning,  smiling  and  unrullled  in  temper.  "  Why," 
said  he,  "  these  very  men, — and  1  know  ever^'  one  of  them, — 
who  are  so  jealous  for  God  and  the  Bible,  would  shoot  a  man  on 
tiie  slightest  provocation,  and  go  ten  miles  to  see  a  dog-ligUt." 
Leaving  that  part  of  the  West  soon  after  this  occurrence,  I  am 
unal>le  to  say  at  what  time  or  place  Mr.  Kneeland  died  ;  but  1 
esteem  it  a  fortunate  event  of  my  life  that  I  was  permitted 
to  know  hitn  personally,  and  be  a  witness  of  his  unvarying 
humanitv,  tnodestv  of  conduct,   and   unassumiiiir  Itcneficence. 


74  5:'vtbutc6  from  the  ITvcss. 


From  secular  thought   Toronto,  Canada'. 

It  is  with  feelings  of  piofouiKl  regret  that  we  lejirii  of  the  deatli 
of  that  trill}'  honest  and  bravo  man,  Horace  Seaveu,  at  the 
advanced  age  of  79.  As  editor  of  The  Boston  Investigator, 
he  displaj'ed  an  ability  and  geniality  of  disposition  that  few 
men  could  equal.  lie  was  a  veteran  in  the  cause  of  Fi'ec 
Thought,  which,  in  every  sense,  he  served  faithfully  and  well. 
In  him  were  concentrated  those  manj-  qualities  which  constitute 
true  greatness  of  character.  Sincere  in  his  convictions,  stead- 
fast in  his  pursuits,  and  noble  in  his  conduct,  he  won  the  love 
of  all  with  whom  he  came  in  contact.  His  benevolent  self- 
sacrificing  acts  speak  with  "trumpet-tongue"  the  goodness  of 
his  nature  and  the  purity  of  his  life.  He  is  gone,  but  the 
glory  of  his  deeds  remains  enshrined  in  the  hearts  of  his  manj- 
friends,  and  will  serve  as  a  sublime  object  worthy  of  the  emu- 
lation of  all  who  aspire  to  lives  of  industry,  honor,  and  un- 
sullied integrity.  —  "Peace  be  to  his  memory." 


From  Lucifer  (Kansas). 

The  demise  of  the  venerable  editor  of  The  Hoston  Inves- 
TKiATOK,  noticed  elsewhere,  was  not  unexpected.  Some  weeks 
ago  we  were  notified  of  his  serious  illness,  and  at  the  advanced 
age  of  79  it  is  not  at  all  surprising  that  his  vital  forces  should 
fail  to  rail}-  under  the  best  of  medical  assistance.  Particulars 
concerning  the  closing  hours  of  this  oldest  and  perhaps  best 
known  of  all  the  Free  Thought  editors  have  not  yet  been  re- 
ceived at  this  office. 


yvi bates  from  the  ^vess,  75 


From  Hampshire  'Mass.'  County  journal. 

Col.  Robert  G.  Ingersoll's  latest  and  most  touching  cft'ort 
was  delivered  Sunday,  Aug.  25,  at  the  funeral  of  noble  Horace 
Skavkr,  editor  of  the  Invkstiuatou.  Mr.  Sf.avkk  visited 
Abner  Kneeland,  tlie  first  editor  of  ttiat  paper,  in  prison,  wlicn 
he  was  sentenced  for  blasphemy.  The  alleged  blaspiieniy  was 
uttered  in  1837.  His  imprisonment  made  Seaver  an  Infidel, 
and  all  his  life  he  has  fought  "Orthodox"  bigotry  and  Cal- 
vinism with  tireless  energy.  He  was  a  friend  of  Colonel  Inger- 
soli,  and  it  was  fitting  that  he  should  preside  at  the  funeral 
services,  and  as  Mr.  .Seavek  and  his  paper  are  widely  known 
all  over  the  counUy,  an  added  interest  will  be  given  to  the  funeral 
oration.' 


From  Celestial  City,    Cal.'. 

We  regret  to  chronicle  the  death,  which  occurred  Aug.  21, 
of  HoKACE  Seaver,  the  veteran  editor  of  The  Boston  Inves- 
tigator. Of  strict  integrity,  faithful  to  friends,  manly  and 
in<lependent  in  all  his  acts,  true  to  iiis  best  ideals  of  duty,  and 
zealous  in  all  good  works,  he  won  the  respect  and  esteem  of 
all  wiio  knew  his  worth.  A  good  man  has  gone  hence,  —  and 
"his  works  shall  praise  liiiii  in  the  gates." 


76  i'vlbtitcs  from  tTtc  IPvcss. 


From  the  Portland  Oregonian. 

Tlie  yet  remaining  few  who  fought  against  slavery  in  the 
United  States  are  fast  following  Phillips  and  Garrison.  Hokack 
Skaveu,  editor  of  the  Investicatou,  died  at  Boston  on  Wed- 
nesday, Aug.  21,  almost  eighty  years  of  age.  He  was  an 
earnest  and  intelligent  anti-slavery  enthusiast,  and  did  good 
service  to  the  countr}*. 


Mr.  h.  l.  Green,  in  the  freethinkers   magazine. 

Mr.  Green,  in  the  October  number,  makes  some  extracts 
fiom  the  volume  of  Mr.  .Seaveks  writings,  entitled  "  Occa- 
sional Thoughts,"  and  then  pa^'s  him  this  fine  compliment:  — 

"  Mr.  Seavek  was  no  fanatic,  no  wild  extremist ;  his  rea- 
son was  his  guide  on  every  question,  and  he  expressed  himself 
in  so  plain  a  manner  that  a  child  could  easil3'  understand  him. 
He  had  not  been  spoiled  by  something  called  education.  His 
'  common  sense  '  was  as  clear  as  crystal. 

"In  our  opinion,  Horace  Seavek  was  to  the  Freethought 
movement  what  Horace  Greeley  was  to  the  anti-slaverj-  move- 
ment. He  was  not  a  Wendell  Phillips  or  a  Robert  G.  Inger- 
soU,  but  he  was  the  great  educator  of  the  people,  who  created  a 
constituency  that  gave  orators  their  audiences  ;  and,  after  everj- 
thing  else  has  been  said  in  relation  to  Mr.  Seaver,  it  must  be 
admitted  that  his  great,  kind,  humane  heart,  that  went  out  in 
sympathy  to  everybody,  was  his  most  conspicuous  quality. 
He  was  '  the  Good  Samaritan'  of  Liberalism." 


Itttcvs. 


AlcttcVS. 


Atlantic  City,  N.  J.,  August  30,  1880. 

My  Dear  Friend  Mendum:  —  Your  note  containing  tiie 
sad  anil  [)uinful  news  of  our  friend  Seaveu's  deatli  was  duly 
received.  For  some  little  time  previous,  from  what  you  iiad 
written  and  what  was  said  in  the  Investigatok,  I  was  not  en- 
tirely uiii)re|)ared  to  receive  the  sad  intelligence.  But  notwitli- 
standing,  what  a  blow  when  it  ditl  come  to  liis  friends,  and  to 
no  one  could  it  come  so  forcibly  as  to  yourself,  who  have 
been,  may  it  be  said,  a  long  and  life  companion  and  friend. 
Toiling  side  hy  side,  heart  beating  to  heart,  with  one  and  tlic 
same  purpose  in  view,  for  more  than  half  a  century,  is  certainly 
a  remarkable  coincidence;  and  to  be  cutoff  and  separated  now 
at  so  late  a  day  in  life  cannot  be  but  most  keenly  and  deeply 
felt  in  the  sympathizing  and  loving  heart ! 

What  a  miss!  and  what  a  change  !  Always  at  his  post 
ready  for  duty,  and  how  faithfully  he  performed  it !  To  be 
with  the  Investigatou,  with  j'oursclf  as  the  adviser  and  helper, 
he  was  in  his  glory.  In  all  but  the  name,  never  could  there 
be  two  brothers  more  attached  to  each  other,  in  all  respects, 
than  were  you  and  our  dearly  loved  friend  who  has  |>assed,  it 
is  hoped,  into  that  life  where  we  shall  all  meet  again. 

One  of  the  strongest  cords  that  have  bound  you  to  the 
old  IvESTiOATOK,  for  the  success  of  which,  and  in  which  you 


80  |:cttcvs. 


have  so  long  lived  and  labored,  is  broken,  and  can  never  he 
replaced  ;  but  there  is  a  melancholy  pleasure  for  you  to  know 
that  von  had  him  for  so  long  a  time  with  j'ou,  and  tliat  you 
enjoyed  his  society  so  much  and  so  well.  We  are  probably 
the  only  two  persons  living  who  have  known  him  so  long  and 
intimately,  and  to  me  lie  always  seemed  more  like  a  broliicr 
than  anything  else. 

You  and  those  connected  with  the  oHice  and  paper  will 
miss  him  more  and  more,  until  time,  the  great  healer  of  all  sor- 
row, shall  remove  the  heavy  burden  that  has  crushed  the 
wounded  heart. 

I  received,  probably  from  some  one  in  the  office,  the  Iler- 
ald  containing  the  notice  and  remarks  of  his  death,  also  the 
eulogj'  by  Colonel  Ingersoll.  The  editorial  in  the  Investigator 
was  well  written,  and  a  good  one.  I  do  not  know  that  more 
could  be  said. 

Please  give  my  kind  regards  to  all  connected  with  the 
office,  and  please  receive  personally  my  sincere  sympathy  in 
this  hour  of  your  affliction.  T.  Prince. 


MuscOTAH,  Kan.,  August  31,   1889. 

My  Dear  Mendum  :  —  I  have  seen  a  telegram  stating  the 
death  of  Mu.  Seaver.  The  end  must  come  —  has  come  to 
him,  aud  will  come  to  us  all  full  soon.  Let  us  trj-  to  live  up 
to  the  lofty  example  of  Mr.  Seavkr, —  absolute  devotion  to 
truth,  forgetful  of  all  lemporar}'  self-interests.  Such  are  the 
saviors  of  the  world.  But  it  is  only  a  little,  a  very  little,  the 
greatest  man  can  do.     Multitudes  and  centuries  come  and  go, 


betters.  81 


Init  progress  tivcps  witli  a  snail's  pace  along  the  path  of  evolu- 
tion and  bistor\-.  The  men  of  ideas,  of  conscience,  are  onl}- 
here  and  there,  and  the  masses  improve  onlj-  slightly  from  age 
to  age.  Human  institutions  advance  only  as  the  race  advances, 
little  by  little,  each  teacher  contributing  his  mite  much  as  the 
little  marine  insects  build  up  the  coral  reefs  from  the  bottom 
of  the  ocean.  Boast  as  we  may  we  are  only  insects  of  a  higher 
order,  helpless  and  powerless  in  the  hands  of  destiny — liorn, 
live,  and  die  in  the  hands  of  a  power  as  absolute  and  immova- 
ble bj-  any  strength  of  our  own  as  are  flies  and  mosquitos. 
We  strut  and  imagine  we  are  somewhat.  I  suppose  flies  do ; 
and  thus  each  plays  his  little  part  on  the  stage  of  his  life 
and  world, —  with  death  at  last  to  end  all,  and  it  comes  so 
speedily  with  the  autumn  frost,  to  fly  and  to  man. 

You  can  hardl}-  suijplj-  Mr.  Seaver's  place  at  the  head  of 
the  Investigator.  But  you  must  do  the  best  that  can  be  done. 
You  can  hardly  And  the  man  j-ou  need, —  constant  hard  work, 
ability,  special  talent,  experience,  without  hope  of  reward. 
Where  will  you  look  for  all  these  qualifications  in  one  man? 
But  the  Investigator  must  go  on,  and  must  not  he  impaired. 
I  am  sure  you  will  find  a  man  somewhere,  but  where  I  cannot 
tell.     Hoping  for  your  success.  I  am, 

Very  trul}-  yours, 

A.  J.  G rover. 


Sai.km,  Ohio,  September  I,  1889. 

Dear  Fkiknd  Mkndum: — I  wish  to  say  that  the  death 
of  IloKAi  E  Seaver  bus  wrought  upon  my  feelings  to  such  an 
extent  that  my  mind  has  been  occupied  almost  continually  with 


82  Xcttcvs. 


the  presence  of  this  grand  man  ever  since  the  news  of  his 
death  reached  me.  For  about  thirtj-  years  I  have  been  a  con- 
stant reader  of  the  Investigator,  and  manj-are  the  obligations 
I  feel  under  to  him  for  the  light  he  has  given  me.  I  have  not 
the  ability-  to  express  my  high  appreciation  of  him,  but  as  the 
years  have  rolled  around  I  have  learned  to  love  him  with  a  fer- 
vor like  that  of  a  son's  love  for  a  father.  I  look  upon  Horace 
Seaver  as  one  of  the  greatest  men  that  ever  lived,  and  the 
tribute  to  his  memory  by  Colonel  R.  G.  Ingersoll,  beautiful  as 
it  is,  does  not  tell  the  story  equal  to  his  greatness.  My  sympa- 
thies are  with  you  in  your  great  bereavement.     With  sorrow 

and  sadness,  T  am,  yours  truly, 

M.  L.  Edwards. 


New  York,  August  23,  1889. 

J.  P.  Mendum,  Esq. —  My  Dear  Sir  : —  Your  notice  that 
3'our  bosom  friend  and  partner,  the  editor  of  the  enduring 
Investigator,  has  passed  away,  fills  us  with  profound  grief. 
For  years  we  have  looked  to  him  as  the  Father  of  the  Faithful ; 
and  now  that  we  cannot  see  him,  and  no  longer  read  his  weeklj- 
messages  of  loving  wisdom  and  saving  common  sense,  it  seems 
as  though  we  were  orphaned  indeed.  For  us,  for  the  large 
circle  thus  left  bereaved,  let  the  sympathy  and  mourning  be  — 
not  for  him! — for  his  years  were  golden,  his  seed  was  sown 
and  ripened.  AVell  had  he  earned  his  rest !  It  is  Nature's 
reward.  May  there  be  strong  and  worthy  successors  to  gather 
and  continue  the  work  into  which  his  noble  life  has  passed. 
Yours  with  sincerest  sympathj', 

T.  B.  Wakeman. 


fetters.  83 

Portland,  Oregon,  August  22,  1889. 

Friend  Mendum  :  —  I  received  your  letter  last  week  stat- 
ing that  Mr.  Skaver's  coiulitiou  gave  but  little  hope  of  his 
living  beyond  a  few  daj's,  and  this  morning  I  read  with  sadness, 
though  not  with  surprise,  a  dispatch  announcing  his  doath. 
Knowing  how  long  he  and  jou  were  associated,  how  close  were 
your  relations,  and  how  deep  and  strong  your  friendship  for 
each  other,  and  how  great  and  valuable  were  his  public  service, 
I  almost  forgot  my  own  personal  sorrow  in  sj-mpathy  for  you 
in  this  great  bereavement,  and  in  contemplating  the  irreparable 
loss  the  Liberal  cause  has  sutfered  in  the  death  of  the  honored 
and  venerable  editor  of  The  Boston  Investigator. 

My  acquaintance,  correspondence,  and  intercourse  with 
Mr.  Seaver  extends  through  tiiirty  years.  I  first  became 
acquainted  with  him  in  1857.  The  last  letter  I  received  from 
him  was  written  at  his  home  last  May,  I  think.  Hut  few  men 
knew  him  better  than  I,  and  can  appreciate  and  endorse  nil 
that  you  have  said  in  regard  to  his  unselfish  devotion  and 
inestimable  services  to  the  cause  of  Free  Thought.  Others 
started  and  turned  back,  or  faltered  by  the  way;  but  Horace 
Seaver  continued  faithful  and  loyal  to  his  convictions  from 
j-outh  to  the  end  of  a  long  and  honorable  life.  lie  battled 
bravely  for  the  truth  in  "times  that  tried  men's  souls,"  and 
lived  to  see  in  the  intellectual  and  religious  condition  of  to-da^- 
the  result,  in  a  degree  to  which  his  modesty  and  lack  of  self- 
appreciation  would  never  allow  him  to  take  credit,  of  his  years 
of  patient  and  unremitting  labors. 

Colonel  Ingersoll,  I  see,  is  to  give  tlie  funeral  address. 
Even  his  eloquence  can  scafce  do  justice  to  Horace  Seavek 
and  his  work,  though  to  his  work  the  eloquent  orator  of  Liber- 


84  Xcttcvs. 


alism  is  himself  greatly  indebted,  as  we  all  are.  I  did  not 
expect  when  I  bid  him  good-by  in  his  office  last  April  that  I 
should  ever  see  Mr.  Seaver  again  ;  but  tlie  thought,  now  tliat 
he  is  dead,  that  I  shall  meet  him  no  more,  is  sad  and  i)ainful. 
The  influence  of  his  life  and  Avork  remains,  and  we  who  survive 
him,  inspired  bj-  his  example,  must  continue  the  work  to  which 
he,  through  evil  and  through  good  report,  devoted  his  entire 
life.  I  write  from  a  full  heart,  but  resti-ain  ni}-  pen.  I  can  no 
longer  saj',  as  I  have  so  many  j^ears,  "  Regards  to  Mu.  Sea- 
ver," but  I  send  best  regards  to  all  who  have  been  associated 
with  him  at  Paine  Memorial,  and  best  wishes  for  the  future  of 
the  paper,  which,  under  Mr.  Seaver's  management  and  your 
own,  has  done  such  far-reaching  and  noble  work. 

Mrs.  Underwood,  who  joins  me  in  the  sentiments  expressed, 
sends  best  regards  and  s^-mpathj-  in  your  great  loss  and  trouble. 

Yours,  &c., 

B.  F.  Underwood. 


New  York,  Aug.  29,  1889. 

J.  P.  Mendim,  Esq.,  Boston,  (Mass.)  —  Dear  Friend:  — 
On  seeing  to-day  the  notice  of  the  death  of  Horace  Seaver, 
I  was  inexpressibly  shocked,  and  felt  almost  as  if  one  of  my 
own  family  had  died  !  I,  as  well  as  every  Freethinker,  must  feel 
his  loss  deepl}',  and  I  especially"  sympathize  with  j'ou  as  his 
almost  long-life  friend  and  associate.  It  had  always  been  mj- 
highest  wish  to  be  able  to  visit  Boston  and  shake  the  hands 
of  both  you  and  liira,  whom  both  I  consider  as  dear  friends, 
although  we  never  met  personally.*  Since  1849  (now  40  years) 
I  have  read  the  Investigator,  and  come  to  look  upon  both  of 


^'cttcvs.  85 


j'ou  as  brothers  and  kin.  While  feasting  ra}-  ej-es  upon  the 
noble  countenance  of  my  friend  Seaver  in  the  Investigator, 
(jour  likeness  I  have  and  treasure  in  m}'  album),  I  looked  for- 
ward with  J03-OUS  anticipations  to  an  intended  visit  to  Boston, 
where  1  proposed  and  purposed  to  meet  you  personally.  Alas  ! 
it  was  not  to  be,  and  death  has  rudely  torn  him  away  who  was 
a  shining  light  among  men !  How  soon  both  of  us  may  follow, 
who  can  tell? 

Horace  Seaveu  has  lived  for  mankind's  good,  —  he  helped 
to  make  men  wiser  and  better,  and  in  life,  as  in  death,  was  a 
shining  example  to  all  men.  Vuiir  and  our  greatest  consola- 
tion is  in  the  memory  of  his  grand  life,  and  the  hope  that  it 
has  instigated  worthy  followers.  The  world  is  the  better  for 
the  lives  of  such  men,  and  we  can  glory  in  looking  back  upon 
him  and  such  as  he  whose  greatest  reward  ever  was  in  their 
own  conscience  and  in  the  consciousness  of  being  of  great  value 
to  their  fellow-men.  May  he  find  worthy  successors.  Ma}' 
you  live  long  yet  to  navigate  our  worthy  paper,  and  may  you 
bear  philosophically,  as  he  would  have  done,  the  loss  of  this 
great  and  good  man. 

Of  course  I  realize  that  none  of  us  are  children  any  more, 
and  that  in  the  course  of  Nature  we  both  may  soon  fall  into 
that  sleep  that  knows  no  waking  ;  but  1  hope  that  you  may  be 
spared  many  years  of  usefulness  and  activity  yet,  to  instruct 
and  teach  men  "the  way  they  ought  to  go."  May  you  have 
or  find  a  worth}'  successor  in  the  editorship  upon  whom  the 
mantle  of  our  departed  brother  may  worihily  fall,  and  may  he 
profit  by  the  example  set  him  so  gloriously  by  our  Hokack 
.Seaver.  Fraternally  yours, 

A.     Kl.SIlEK<i. 


86  l^cttcvs. 

Albany,  N.  Y.,  August  23,  1889. 

Dear  Mr.  Mendum  : — I  am  sorry  that  it  will  be  almost 
impossible  for  me  to  attend  the  funeral  of  IIorack  Seaver.  I 
have  been  tr3-ing  to  make  arrangements  to  get  away  from  Al- 
bany for  a  few  days  for  the  past  four  weeks,  and  I  find  that  I 
am  no  nearer  this  short  vacation  now  than  when  I  began  to 
expect  that  I  could  soon  leave  all  care  behind  for  a  brief 
period. 

Although  I  have  only  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  the 
veteran  Editor  of  the  Investigator  a  few  times, —  three  times 
in  Boston,  and  everj'  da}'  during  the  three-days'  sessions  of  the 
New  York  State  Freethinkers'  Convention  held  here  in  Albany 
in  September,  1885, — j'et  his  death  seems  to  me  like  that  of 
one  whom  I  have  been  well  acquainted  with  from  youth.  Our 
interests  and  struggles  in  a  common  cause,  no  doubt,  have 
awakened  the  sentiment  of  friendly  sympathy.  I  always 
admired  his  blunt  and  open  honesty  of  speech  and  editorials. 
His  great  faith  in  the  final  triumph  of  complete  Mental  Liberty 
and  the  eventual  destruction  of  superstition  was  inspiring. 
Liberty,  toleration,  truth,  reason,  conscience,  wisdom,  valor, 
and  happiness,  were  the  virtuous  sentiments  that  shone  around 
him. 

He  was  a  grand  and  heroic  American.  He  was  the  most 
consistent  person  I  ever  knew.  After  he  had  weighed  all  the 
arguments  for  and  against  any  principle,  and  was  satisfied  that 
the  principle  was  correct,  he  always  consistently  advocated  it, 
no  matter  where  its  complete  evolution  would  seem  to  lead  to. 
For  the  j-ears  that  he  has  toiled,  for  the  work  he  has  done,  in 
helping  to  propagate  Free  Thought  ideas,  in  helping  to  estab- 
lish among  men  true  manhood,  he  deserves  the  gratitude  of  all 


i'cttcvs.  87 


honest  and    libertj- -loving  Americans.      Althougli    his   words 

were  read  in  otlier  lands  than  our  own,  yet  he  was  peculiarly 

an  American.     lie  loved  the  land  of  his  birth,  and  ever  hoped 

that  it  would  be  the  greatest  and  best  nation  that  ever  existed. 

Such,  brielly,  was  Hokace  Seaver. 

J.  J.  McCabe. 


Medfoud,  Mass.,  August  29,  1889. 

Dear  Mk.  Mendum  : —  This  morning  brings  the  news  of 
the  death  of  m^'  late  excellent  friend  and  beloved  brother, 
Horace  Seaver.  The  sad  tidings  has  brought  distress  and 
grief  to  my  heart.  Allow  me  to  offer  to  you,  dear  Sir,  my 
profoundest  sympathy  in  this  your  bitter  sorrow  and  great  loss. 
To  3'ou  especially  it  is  an  irreparable  loss.  "  We  may  not  see 
his  like  again."  The  world  has  lost  a  champion,  a  wise,  a 
good,  and  true  man.  Some  twelve  j'ears  ago  the  deceased  and 
I  came  to  an  understanding,  that  which  ever  of  us  should  out- 
live the  other,  the  living  one  should  speak  to  the  friends  of  the 
departed.  Wlien  we  met  last  .January  after  his  sickness,  he 
playfully  said,  '•  I  mean  to  be  the  last,  and  have  taken  out  a 
new  lease  of  life." 

I  am  truly  glad,  that  the  author  of  "  The  Gods"  is  to  be 
with  j'ou  on  Sunday.  No  more  fitting  man  could  be  selected 
among  mortals.  No  more  eloquent  tongue  could  pronounce 
the  obsequies  of  the  immortal  Seaver,  whose  name  linked  with 
your  own  honored  name  will  survive  in  liie  ages  to  conio,  when 
harvests  of  Free  Thought  will  be  gatliured.  If  at  all  aliU'  1 
shall  be  with  you  on  Sunday. 

Yours, 

\\  .    1).    LUKKEN,    M.D. 


88  betters. 

Cincinnati,  O.,  September  25,  1889. 

Dear  Mr.  Menddm  :  —  Your  kindly  note  pursued  me  here 
b}'  way  of  Concord,  arriving  too  late  for  your  purpose.  It  would 
have  given  me  high  satisfaction  to  add  my  humble  testimonj-  to 
the  rare  integrity  and  worth  of  our  late  friend,  Mk.  Seaver 
as  a  man,  and  of  his  abilitj-,  candor,  and  fairness  as  an  editor, 
which  post  he  has  so  nobly  graced  for  more  than  half  a  century 
without  any  change  of  .Journal  or  Proprietor. 

Surel}*  such  an  acquaintance  and  relationship  as  has  grown 
up  between  you  as  owner  and  Mr.  Seaver  as  editor  of  the 
brave  old  Investigator,  in  a  half-centurj'  period,  filled  with 
incident  and  experience  of  ever_v  conceivable  character, — from 
peaceful  agitation  and  discussion  of  almost  ever^-  problem  per- 
taining to  human  growth,  unfoldmcnt,  and  happiness,  to  the 
most  dreadful  clash  of  arms,  "  with  confused  noise  and  gar- 
ments rolled  in  blood," — such  an  acquaintance  was  not  suddenly 
severed  without  profound  sorrow  on  your  part,  such  as  only 
loss  of  nearest  and  dearest  earthly  friends  could  equal. 

Companions  in  arms,  you  have  indeed  long  been  ;  and  with 
onl^-  the  mild  arms  of  truth  and  argument,  appeal  and  expostu- 
lation, the  most  effective,  indeed  the  only  truly  effective,  wea- 
pons in  the  field  of  legitimate  human  controversy. 

"  Cannon  balls  may  aid  the  truth, 
But  thought's  a  weapon  stronger." 

You,  dear  friend,  have  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  in 
all  the  fifty  years'  warfare  waged  by  you  and  your  noble  coad- 
jutor, you  never  once  appealed  to  any  power  but  free,  friendly' 
discussion  and  argument.  On  that  plane,  be  assured,  you  had 
always  a  friend  and  fellow  soldier,  in 

Your  sj'mpathizing  friend, 

Parker  Pillsbury. 


2:ettcvs.  89 


Fall  River,  Mass. 
Dear  Mr.  Mendum  :  — 

It  is  with  pain  anrl  sadness  I  come  to  lay  a  little  flower  of 
friendship  and  esteem  upon  the  grave  of  one  of  earth's  noblest 
men, —  Horace  Seaver.  Mr.  SEAVERwas  one  of  the  best  and 
wisest  men  it  was  ever  my  fortune  to  meet.  For  seventeen 
years  I  enjoyed  a  correspondence  witli  him,  uninterrupted,  ex- 
cept bj-  illness,  and  ceasing,  at  last,  with  death,  lie  placed  the 
first  copy  of  the  Investigator  in  my  hands  that  I  had  ever  seen, 
and  showt'cl  me  where  1  belonged  in  the  world  of  mental  free- 
dom. He  directed  my  reading  and  helped  to  shape  my  thought 
through  such  authors  as  Frances  Wright,  Baron  d'Holbach, 
Paine,  Volney,  Hume,  and  others  of  similar  character.  To 
read  such  books  was  like  the  opening  of  a  new  world,  transcend- 
ent with  light  and  loveliness, —  a  new  universe  luminous  with 
truth  and  knowledge,  and  pulsing  with  sweet,  sentient  life  It 
was  a  deliglit  to  sit  at  his  feet  and  listen  to  his  words,  whether 
in  reminiscence  of  a  past  and  gone  period,  tracing  the  progress 
of  events,  forecasting  the  future  of  the  race  when  the  bonds  of 
superstition  should  be  broken,  or  in  keen  denunciation  of  some 
sham  or  hypocrisy.  His  clear  vision,  his  ability  to  see  the  right 
waj'  through  mists  of  perplexing  doubt  and  clouds  of  fear  was 
almost  marvellous.  Careful,  conscientious,  honest  as  the  sun- 
light ;  I  never,  in  all  tlie  years  of  my  acquaintance,  knew  him 
to  knowingly-  say,  or  do,  a  wrong  thing.  Tender,  considerate, 
gentle  and  humane,  wise  and  patient  under  all  circumstances, 
toiling  always  to  bless  his  fellow-creatures,  to  lift  humanity  to  a 
higher  plane  of  living  and  thinking,  his  death  is  a  most  serious 
los.s  to  his  ho.sts  of  friends  and  to  the  world  at  large. 

He  sorrowed  over  the  faults  and  frailties  of  others,  grieved 
because  of  the  bigotry  and  superstitions  of  society,  and  was 


90  ^ctttvs. 

untiring  in  his  labor  to  remove  them.  He  had  great  cliarily 
for  the  shortcomings  of  others,  and  never  failed  to  bestow  the 
word  of  praise  whenever  he  could  consistent!)-  do  so.  His  ten- 
der heart  was  moved  to  pity  at  the  sight  of  siitlering,  which  he 
endeavored  to  remove  to  tlie  best  of  his  ability.  He  served 
humanity  with  a  loyal  zeal  as  roj'ally  as  a  king.  The  necessi- 
ties of  the  destitute  and  distressed  were  the  prayers  that  he 
answered  with  kind  encouragement  and  substantial  aid.  Call- 
ing upon  one  occasion  on  a  sick  man  in  indigent  circumstances 
he  found  a  clergyman  praying  at  the  bedside.  After  the  minis- 
ter had  taken  his  departure,  Mr.  Seaver  approached  the  couch 
of  pain,  and,  taking  the  emaciated  hand  of  the  suti'crer,  he 
said,  "  I  am  not  in  the  habit  of  praying  as  is  the  friend  who 
has  just  gone  out,  but  here  is  something  that  may  help  to  make 
your  troubles  a  little  easier  to  bear,"  and  a  crisp  bank-note  was 
pressed  into  the  trembling  hand  of  the  suffering  sick  one.  On 
another  occasion,  he  was  walking  down  a  street  in  Boston  one 
snowy,  slippery  day.  There  was  an  alarm  of  fire,  and  the  en- 
gines came  rushing  along  at  full  speed.  A  little  child  was 
crossing  the  street  directly  in  the  path  of  the  flying  engine.  In 
another  instant  she  would  have  been  killed.  Mr.  Seaver  saw 
at  a  glance  the  danger,  and,  at  the  risk  of  his  own  life,  rushed 
to  the  rescue  of  the  little  one.  He  saved  her  life,  but  fell  him- 
self, and  suffered  Ihereb)-  an  injur)-  to  his  right  hand  from  which 
he  never  fully  recovered.  It  was  a  brave  and  daring  act,  for 
which  he  felt  fully  rewarded  in  the  saving  of  a  human  life, 
although  he  never  knew,  or  sought  to  know,  the  name  of  the 
child  or  where  she  lived. 

Such  was  the  beautiful  character  of  the  man  whose 


■actions  just 


Smell  sweet  and  blossom  in  the  dust." 


^cttcvs.  91 


There  is  a  translation  from  the  Persian  that  is  expressive 
of  the  goodness,  grace,  and  beauty  that  seemed  to  radiate  from 
his  life.     It  runs  thus  :  — 

"A  traveller,  toiling  on  a  weary  way, 

Found  in  his  jjatli  apiece  of  fragrant  clay; 

'This  seems  hut  common  earth,'  said  he,  '  but  how 

Delightful  I     It  is  full  of  sweetness  now! 

Whence  is  thy  fragrance  ?  "     From  the  clay  there  grows 

A  voice  — '  I  have  been  very  near  a  rose.'  " 

So  Hon.\CE  Skaver  made  better  all  who  came  within  reach 
of  his  influence,  and  there  are  nobler  men  and  truer  women  to-day 
because  he  has  lived,  for  his  was  that  rare  nature  in  which  was 
blended  the  purity  and  simplicity  of  childiiood  and  the  dignity', 
wisdom,  nobility,  and  grandeur  of  true  manliness.  His  work 
is  his  noblest  monument,  and  will  stand  forever  unshaken  by 
the  blasts  of  ignorance  and  superstition.  He  toiled  for  all 
human  rights,  and  among  these  he  bravely  recognized  the 
rights  of  women  and  children.  His  clear  utterances  for  the 
equality  of  the  sexes,  not  because  it  might  be  deemed  ex- 
pedient, but  because  it  is  just  and  right,  will  ring  down  the 
aisles  of  Time,  and,  floating  back,  will  bathe  his  name  in  floods 
of  light  as  bright  and  golden  as  the  stars. 

He  was  modest  in  his  manners,  pure  and  chaste  in  con- 
versation, guileless  and  honest  as  a  child,  and  lirave  as  a 
warrior  in  the  cause  of  truth  and  universal  mental  liberty. 
The  motto,  ''One  world  at  a  time,"  originated  with  him,  and 
he  nobly  lived  for  the  world  in  which  he  was  born,  and  as 
Colonel  Ingersoll  eloquently  said  at  the  funeral  obsequies,  "  If 
there  is  another  world,  he  will  live  for  that." 

Kew  men  possess  so  many  virtues  as  did  our  loved  and 
lamented  friend,  and,  if  he  had  faults,  thev  were  inircvoaled  to 


92  i-cttcvs. 


even  his  most  intimate  companions.  His  life  was  a  credit  and 
lienor  to  all  Liberal  sentiment,  to  the  highest  civilization  of 
the  times  which  his  pen  and  useful  living  helped  to  make,  and 
he  died  as  he  lived,  —  a  truthful,  honest,  respected,  and  self- 
respecting  man. 

The  world  owes  Horace  Seavek  a  debt  of  gratitude  for 
his  unflinching  fidelity  to  right  in  face  of  great  obstacles,  much 
venom  and  vindictive  spite,  for  iiis  adherence  to  principle,  his 
devotion  to  truth,  and  for  his  sturdy  blows  in  "breaking  the 
way  for  future  generations." 

He  has  gone,  and  we  mourn  his  loss  ;  but  his  memory  is  as 
fragrant  as  flowers,  and  the  example  he  has  left  behind  will 
make  good  men  and  good  women  of  all  who  strive  to  follow  it. 
He  has  passed  into  the  serene  quiet  of  majestic  silence.  He 
has  become  a  memorj-  that  brightens  and  glorifies  the  past 
with  which  he  was  identified. 

So,  altliougli  the  vase  be  broken 

That  held  the  rarest  Howcr, 
All  the  air  contains  the  token 

Of  its  enduring  power. 

His  was  a  patient,  noble  life, 

By  many  changes  crossed ; 
Its  modest  sweetness,  free  from  strife, 

Can  never  more  be  lost. 

Its  every  day  bore  jewels  bright, 
J  To  shine  in  every  age : 

Each  one  hath  made,  with  living  liglit, 
An  altruistic  page. 

Such  lives  bear  fruitage  rich  and  fair — 

They  are  not  lived  in  vain; 
Tho"  oft  beset  by  toil  and  care, 

The  world  has  all  the  gain. 

Susan  H.  Wixon. 


betters.  93 


HORACE   SEAVER    AND    HIS    WORK. 

About  fifty-five  years  ago,  when  I  was  a  sehool-boj-,  near 
the  city  of  New  York,  I  lieard  one  of  our  teachers  say  that  a 
paper  had  been  recently  started  in  Boston  of  a  character  so 
abominable  that  its  existence  was  a  disgrace,  not  to  New  Kng- 
land  merel3',  but  to  the  human  race.  It  was  called  The  Boston 
Investigator,  he  said,  and  its  sole  object  was  to  revile  every- 
thing that  good  people  held  sacred.  I  cannot  now  recall  much 
that  he  said  of  this  appalling  sheet,  but  I  remember  well  the 
look  of  sorrow  that  darkened  his  benevolent  face  as  he  spoke 
of  it.  He  was  one  of  the  best  men  I  have  ever  known,  and 
one  of  the  most  devoted  of  teachers,  a  graduate  of  Williams 
College,  and  a  student  of  theologj'.  He  created  in  m^'  youth- 
ful mind  such  an  abhorrence  of  the  paper  that  if  I  had  been 
within  reach  of  a  copy,  I  should  have  had  some  apprehension  in 
touching  it.  As  he  felt  concerning  it,  many  others  did  at  that 
time,  who  had  been  trained  to  regard  religion  and  virtue  as 
synonymous  terms. 

After  the  lapse  of  twenty  years  or  more,  during  which  I 
had  neither  seen  nor  heard  of  the  paper,  being  in  Boston  for 
the  first  time  I  noticed  among  the  piles  of  folded  newspapers 
at  the  news-stand  of  the  depot  two  co[)ies  of  the  self-same  ter- 
rible Investigator.  1  boldly  bought  one  of  them,  and  looked 
carefully  over  it  for  that  total  depravity  wliicii  1  had  been  led 
to  expect.  I  found  it  filled,  for  the  most  part,  with  bland  and 
innocent  speculations  concerning  the  system  of  the  universe, 
such  as  would  naturally  arise  in  the  minds  of  thoughtful  per- 
.sons,  living  in  (piiet  places,  who  had  not  been  able  to  accept 
the  usual  .solutions  of  the  great  enigma.  I  looked  in  vain  for 
anything  to  justify  my  old  teacher's  intense  antipathy  :  no  arro- 


94  Setters. 


gance,  no  disrespect  toward  people  of  a  different  opinion, 
nothing  calculated  to  lessen  in  any  one  the  regard  which  human 
beings  naturalh"  have  for  whatever  is  right  and  becoming.  A 
more  kindl}'  and  harmless  paper  I  never  opened.  It  was  such 
a  sheet  as  a  club  of  reflective  men  might  maintain  as  a  conven- 
ient mental  exchange ;  and  such  it  really  was,  the  subscribers 
being  all  members  of  the  same.  I  remember  the  entreaties  of 
the  editor  to  his  contributors  to  bear  in  mind  that  the  Investi- 
gator's space  was  limited,  —  it  would  only  hold  so  much, — 
and  they  must  therefore  cut  their  communications  down,  so  as 
to  give  others  a  chance  to  be  heard. 

Perhaps  the  greatest  service  which  the  late  editor  of  the 
Investigator  rendered  his  countrymen  was  in  proving  the 
utter  harmlessness  of  free-thinking,  and  so  preparing  the  way 
for  a  total  severance  between  systems  of  belief  and  rules  of 
conduct.  The  great  error  which  most  of  us  commit  in  this 
matter  is  in  attaching  such  an  excessive  importance  to  theories 
of  the  universe  that  people  are  prevented  from  uniting  together 
for  good  purposes  who  are  in  the  most  perfect  moral  accord. 
The  time,  I  hope,  will  come  when  the  universe  will  be  handed 
over  to  students  and  scientists,  to  be  dealt  with  according  to 
its  merits,  leaving  the  rest  of  mankind  free  to  enjoy  existence, 
and  to  combine  for  amelioration  of  the  common  lot.  I  very 
much  admire  the  remark  of  a  learned  gentleman,  who  said  the 
other  da}%  "  If  I  could  ascertain  to  an  absolute  certaintj- 
whether  there  is  a  life  after  death  by  stepping  across  the  street, 
I  would  not  take  the  trouble  to  go."     He  was  a  wise  man. 

All  over  this  country  we  see  communities  unable  to  get 
together  on  Sundays,  and  enjo}'  noble  and  elevating  pleasures 
in  common,  and  at  the  common  expense,  because  they  cannot 


^ettcvs.  95 


agree  concerning  the  universe.  Here  in  this  city  where  I  live, 
there  are  fifteen  or  twent}'  little  struggling  societies,  each  con- 
sisting of  one  or  two  hundred  members,  that  are  obliged  to 
expend  the  greater  part  of  their  moral  and  pecuniary  strength  in 
just  ke('i)ing  alive.  If  we  could  hut  consent  to  let  the  universe 
alone,  and  concern  ourselves  with  Ihe  problem  of  present 
human  welfare,  we  could  form  societies  for  mutual  good  cheer 
on  a  scale  of  magnificence,  and  malce  the  day  of  rest  a  suffi- 
cient reward  for  the  labors  and  anxieties  of  the  other  six. 

We  cannot  be  too  grateful  to  the  late  Mr.  Seaver  for  the 
service  he  rendered  us  in  assisting  to  break  down  those  arti- 
ficial barriers,  not  merely  by  destroying  the  beliefs  on  which 
they  rest,  but  by  showing  the  fulilit}-  of  all  the  attempts  of 
man  to  know  the  unknowable.  I  hope  the  Investioatok  will 
continue  his  work  with  ever-increasing  power  and  effieienc}'. 

James  Parton. 


Wamplm,  Pa.,  Aug.  26,  1889. 

J.   P.  Menuum,  —  Dear  Sir  :  —  We  received  the   sad   in- 
telligence of  Mk.  Seaver's  death  this  morning. 

Not  wliiTc  his  aclioiis  challenged  loud  arolaim, 

Not  with  the  hope  to  see  a  blazoned  name, 

Hill  with  a  lourago  steadfast,  he  has  fought, 

That  wc  who  follow  have  a  freer  thought. 

His  sense  of  duty  clear,  no  one  could  bind  ; 

Strong  blows  he  struck,  ycl  tempered  mild  and  kind. 


Yours,  ^:c, 


N. 


96  ^cttcvs. 


Le  Maks,  Iowa,  Aug.  25,  1889. 

J.  P.  Mendcm,  Esq.,  Boston,  (Mass.), —  Dear  Sir:  —  I 
was  surprised  and  grieved  at  tlie  discovery-  of  a  statement  in  a 
dail_v  paper,  the  22d  ult.,  giving  a  brief  account  of  the  deatli  of 
HoRACK  Seavek.  Tiie  cause  he  advocated  so  manfully  will 
realize  the  loss  it  has  to  sustain  in  his  death.  The  history  of 
Universal  Mental  Freedom  cannot  be  written  and  leave  /u".s- 
name  and  work  out.  His  sincerity,  fairness,  and  peculiar  tact 
have  been  a  marvel  to  me  for  years.  His  fertile  brain  was  so 
poised  that  opposition  respectfully  gave  way.  It  has  been 
said  that  Thomas  Jefferson  was  born  for  tiic  part  he  acted  in 
our  Government.  This  is  no  more  true  than  that  Houace 
Seaver  was  a  born  editor  and  advocate  of  justice.  His  work 
demonstrates  it.  When  I  reflect  upon  the  fact  that  his  active 
and  necessary  career  is  at  an  end,  it  sends  a  pang  through  my 
brain.  I  have  thought  many  times  already.  Who  will  fill  his 
place?  I  have  looked  from  one  to  another  of  the  noble  chief- 
tains in  the  field  doing  such  valiant  work  with  doubt,  and  j-et  I 
cannot  be  satisfied  that  it  is  impossible  to  find  some  one  that 
will  successfully  carry  the  work  on. 

The  Investigator  and  the  cause  have  nobl}'  survived  the 
administration  of  Abner  Kneeland,  and  let  us  hope  it  may  the 
death  of  its  recent  revered  editor.  He  has  fought  an  honest, 
generous,  noble,  mental  battle.  As  the  custodian  of  justice, 
he  has  done  his  duty  fearlessly.  His  life  has  caused  a  spon- 
taneous monument  of  respect  and  gratitude  to  spring  up  in  the 
mind  of  a  host  of  admirers.  His  is  no  single  monument,  for 
each  individual  has  builded  for  himself,  and  the  spire  touches 
the  sky  of  excellence.  His  pathway  has  been  thorny,  and,  no 
doubt,  man^'  times  he  felt  that  ingratitude  was  his  compensa- 


Xcttcvs.  97 


tion.     It  soems  to  lie  luimaii   to  be   unappreciated   while   life 

lasts.     Could  he  look  back  now  and  understand  the  estimate 

placed  upon  him,  his   satisfaction  would   be   complete.     The 

(lowers  along  his  thorn\-  path  tiiat  are  now  springing  up  from 

the  seed  he  has   sown   disclose    liis   value.     Tlieir   character 

demonstrates   that  they   are  no  diurnal,   but  centurj-  plants. 

Their  stability  should  inspire  us  with  new  hope  and  energy.  Tiie 

foundation  of  his  success  has  been  persistent  ellbrt  and  honest 

purpose.  Yours, 

II.  D.  Ballard. 


Boston,  September  16, 1889. 

Mk.  J.  P.  Mendum  :  —  Dear  Sir,  —  I  deeply  sj'mpathize 
with  3'ou  in  the  loss  of  3-our  brave  and  honest  partner,  Horace 
Seaver. 

After  working  together  for  fifty  years  for  the  advance- 
ment of  humanity  and  civilization — iiand  in  li;uid,  the  ties  of 
friendship  growing  nearer  and  dearer  with  each  day's  labor, — 
and  now  to  be  separated,  the  heart  must  bleed  and  become 
lonely  at  the  loss. 

Horace  Seaver  was  a  genial,  earnest,  and  conscientious 
man,  his  heart  constantly  beating  for  the  welfare  of  all  mankind  ; 
never  working  for  the  aggrandizement  of  liimself,  but  for  tiie 
benefit  of  others  ;  his  way  of  life  was  unostentatious,  quiet, 
modest,  and  reserved ;  no  one  questioned  his  honesty  of  pur- 
po.se,  his  tidclity  or  integrity,  and  his  great  loss  falls  upon  all 
who  knew  him  with  sorrow  and  grief. 

I  have  enjoyed  the  friendship  of  IIokack  Skavkk  for  a 
quarter  of  a  ceutury,  and  during  that  period  have  passed  many 


98  fetters. 


pleasant  hours  in  Lis  socictj*.    I  keenly  feel  his  loss,  but  how 
much  deeper  must  your  sorrow  be  than  mine? 

I  followed  him  to  his  final  resting-place  at  Forest  Hills,  and 
as  we  quietly  drove  through  that  city  of  the  dead  all  nature 
seemed  to  express  a  feeling  of  joy  to  welcome  him  back  to  his 
mother  earth.  The  green  grass  with  its  sweet  aroma,  the  brill- 
iant sunlight  reflecting  all  around,  the  flickering  tree-tops 
tipped  with  golden  light  bowed  their  leafy  branches  in  token  of 
lionor  and  respect  for  him  who  has  done  so  much  to  earn  the 
title  of  a  brave  and  honest  man. 

"  After  life's  fitful  fever  he  sleeps  well : 
Treason  has  done  his  worst;  nor  steel,  nor  poison, 
Malice  domestic,  foreign  levy,  nothing. 
Can  touch  him  further!"' 

Respectfully  yours, 

Wyzeman  Marshall. 


Prescott,  Arizona,  Aug.  24,  1889. 

JosiAH  P.  Mendum,  Esq.  —  Dear  Good  Sir: — The  sad 
news  just  broke  in  on  us.  and  if  our  little  band  of  Liberals 
could  assist  you  in  this  hour  of  grief  we  would  more  than  gladlj- 
do  it.  We  add  our  deeply-felt  sorrow  to  yours  over  the  loss 
of  our  good,  noble,  Horace  Seaver, — "  The  able  brain,  noble 
soul,  and  good  star  of  Liberals." 

He,  however,  may  be  dead,  but  his  writings  stand  as  a 
grand  monument  indestructible  for  all  times  to  come.  We 
mourn  with  you,  dear  Sir,  and  sincerelj-  hope  that  j-ou, 
although  bereft  of  more   than  a  friend,  will  with  stout  heart 


bear  the  lieavy  loss.     Our  sympathy  is  with  you,  clean   and 
unselfish. 

Grand,  noble,  good  man,  farewell !  His  iiieraorv  will 
forever  live  in  our  hearts.  To  you,  dear  j\lr.  Menduni,  our 
best  wishes  for  the  future. 

Most  respectfully  your  friend, 

Jul.  N.  Rodenburg, 

Secretary  for  our  little  Band  of  Liberals 
of  Prcacott,  Arizona. 


Florence,  Mass.,  August  23,  188U. 

My  Dear  Friend  Mr.  Menuum  :  —  Yours  of  the  2l8t 
inst.,  announcing  the  death  of  our  brother,  Mr.  Seaver,  re- 
ceived yesterday.  I  do  not  think  an}-  one  is  adequate  to  por- 
tray the  deep  and  S3'mpathetic  feelings  which  overwhelm  30U 
at  this  time.  There  was  a  warmness  between  you  and  Mr. 
SEAVEUof  which  it  would  be  didicult  to  find  a  parallel.  The 
work  of  iialf  11  century,  in  which  you  have  been  closely  united 
and  agreed,  —  tliat  of  one  steady  aggressive  attack  upon  the 
popular  religion  of  our  day,  —  is  indeed  wonderful,  and  it  is 
doubtful  if  coming  posterity  siuiU  ever  realize  the  ol>ligation 
Ihcy  are  under  to  yourself  and  Mu.  Seaver  for  the  work  done. 
I  have  been  a  witness  to  your  effort,  and  constant  in  my  wishes 
for  your  success,  which  I  think  may  be  regarded  as  fully 
accomplished. 

I  am  still  in  poor  health  from  nervous  prostration,  which 

will  prevent  me  being  present  at  Mu.  Skaveu's  funeral. 

Fraternally  vours, 

A.  T.   Lilly. 


100  fetters. 


Prescott,  Arizona,  Aug.  24,  1889. 

Friend  Mendum  :  —  We  feel  it  a  duty  to  give  a  parting 

word  to  the  dead,  and  to  our  beloved  brother,  Horace  Seaver, 

who  has  passed  from  life  rich  with  all  the   fragrance   of  the 

beautiful  flowers  of  purity  that  he  has  planted  during  his  short 

day  among  us,  which  has  made  death  a  flowery  way,  and  life 

worth  living.     To  the  brave  and  true   departed,  with    tearful 

ej"es  we  sav,  farewell !  Trul}'  j'ours, 

J.  W.  R. 


Albany,  N.  Y.  August  28,  1889. 

Friend  Mendum  :  —  The  notice  of  the  death  and  burial  of 
Horace  Seaver  did  not  reach  me  until  the  day  after  his  funeral. 
What  a  glorious  career  was  that  of  this  honest  and  trul3-  great 
man!  For  over  fifty  years  he  stood,  an  unfaltering  sentinel 
on  the  confines  of  Free  Thought,  with  weapon  in  hand,  battling 
for  the  right  against  the  wrong, —  for  the  emancipation  of  the 
human  intellect  from  the  thraldom  of  the  church  —  from  the 
superstition  of  the  age,  ind  the  traditions  of  a  barbarous  antiq- 
uity'. And  what  was  the  weapon  he  used?  The  same  that 
was  used  by  Voltaire  and  Paine  :  it  was  the  Pen  ! 

When  we  look  back  along  the  vista  of  the  past,  while  he 
stood  at  the  rudder  of  the  old  Investigator,  his  career  was 
most  remarkable.  Ever  true  to  his  honest  convictions  as  the 
"needle  to  the  pole,"  his  editorials  bristle  with  gems  of  pro- 
found thought,  and  convincing  and  unanswerable  argument. 
If  immortalit}'  consists  in  the  name  one  leaves  behind  him,  his 
is  a  glorious  and  brilliant  immortality,  growing  in  splendor  as 
the  ages  wear  away. 


I^ettcvs.  101 


Horace  Seaver  was  a  benefactor  to  his  race.  It  seems 
to  ine.  for  the  benefit  of  humanit}-,  such  men  as  Horace  Seayer 
never  ought  to  die  ;  or,  tliat  they  ought  to  have  two  lives  to 
live,  and  know  as  much  at  the  beginning  of  the  second  as  thej' 
did  at  tile  termination  of  the  first.  But  then,  after  all,  when 
we  have  spent  a  lifetime  in  battle  for  the  benefit  of  mankind, 
almost  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave,  and  the  machine  is  worn 
out  in  doing  good  for  our  fellow-creatures,  and  our  sun  has 
set  beneath  the  horizon,  death  comes  as  a  welcome  relief;  and 
there  is  a  fascination  in  the  thought  that  we  shall  be  laid  away 
to  rest  forever ;  that  the  struggles,  perplexities,  and  disappoint- 
ments of  this  mortal  life  shall  cease  forever  to  disturb  and 
molest  us  in  the  grave. 

A.    SCIIELL. 


Snowviu.e,  Va.,  August  27,  1889. 

J.  P.  Menuuh,  Esq.,  Boston,  Mass: — In  the  death  of 
Horace  Seaver,  every  reader  of  his  beloved  Investioatok 
will  feel  that  a  personal  friend  has  gone,  leaving  a  void  that 
nothing  and  no  one  tan  ever  fill.  Yet  in  the  midst  of  our  own 
grief,  we  each  and  all  recognize  that  there  is  one  who  will  feel 
that  deeper  sorrow  that  only  those  can  feel  whose  nearest  and 
dearest  friend  has  forever  departed,  leaving  him  henceforth  as 
one  whoso  counsellor  and  staff  has  been  taken  frf)Mi  him. 

Mk.  Seaver  and  you  have  been  so  long  looked  upon  as 
complement  parts  of  one  another,  that  it  now  seems  almost 
impossible  for  us  to  conceive  of  the  one  as  gone  and  the  i>tlu'r 
alone.  But  there  is  a  sweet  consolation  lor  us  nil  in  the 
thought,  that  there  is  no  shadow  or  cloud  on  the  record-page  of 


102  Inciters. 

our  brave  and  good  old  hero,  Horace  Seaver.  His  whole  life 
was  one  of  love,  humanit}',  and  kindliness.  The  influence  of 
his  good  words  and  good  works  is  world-wide  and  everlasting. 
Every  memory  I  have  of  him  —  going  back  nearh-  forty  years 
—  is  pleasant,  and  we  can  say  this  of  so  few. 

I  shall  not  attempt  to  pen  an  eulogy  upon  him,  for  our 
brave  and  good  IngersoU  will  do  this  better  than  any  one  else 
can  possibly  do  it.  I  merely  wish  to  add  my  testimonial  to 
that  of  the  thousands  who  will  speak  for  the  worth  and  value 
of  the  noble  life  that  has  been  so  well  lived.  "  A  good  mem- 
ory is  his  best  monument,  a  noble  life  his  best  epitaph." 

Elmina  Drake  Slenker. 


"Washington,  D.  C,  Aug.  23,  1889. 

Dear  Mr.  Mendum  :  —  With  deep  regret  and  sorrow,  I 
have  seen  from  a  newspaper  report,  that  Mr.  Horace  Seaver, 
the  editor  of  Tue  Boston  Investigator,  is  no  more  among  the 
living.  He  was  doubtless  one  of  the  ablest  and  noblest  leaders 
of  the  cause  of  Free  Thought  in  this  country,  a  powerful 
champion  of  universal  mental  liberty. 

"Whenever  I  api)roached  him  with  a  communication  for 
publication  in  the  Investigator,  he  always  treated  me  —  a 
German  Freethinker  and  a  naturalized  American  citizen  — 
very  kindl}'  and  very  friendly.  In  addition  to  his  rich  mental 
gifts.  Nature  had  provided  him  with  a  big  heart.  Peace  to 
his  ashes ! 

The  newspaper  report  referred  to,  contained  in  one  of  the 
evening  papers  of  this  city,  of  yesterdaj',  reads  :  — 


^cttcvs.  103 


HoKACE  Seaver,  editor  ol'  Ihv  Investioatok  for  tlic  last 
fifty-one  j-ears,  died  in  Boston  j-esterdaj-,  aged  soventy-nino 
years.  Mr.  Seaver  was  widely  Iciiown  as  a  writer  and  a 
lecturer  on  Free  Thought.  He  was  also  a  strong  anti-slavery 
man,  and  a  close  friend  of  Phillips,  Pillsbury,  and  Garrison. 
The  funeral  takes  place  Sunday  from  Paino  Memorial  Hall, 
and  Col.  Robert  G.  IngersoU,  who  was  a  warm  friend  of  the 
deceased,  will  pronounce  the  eulogy. 

Respectfully  yours, 

J.   G.   riERTWir.. 


Davenport,  Wash.  Ter.,  Sept.  7,  1889. 

My  Dear  Mr.  Mendum  :  —  I  have  just  read  of  the  death 
of  our  dear  hero  and  friend,  Mr.  Horace  Seaver.  I  read  also 
R.  G.  Ingersoll's  tribute  to  his  memory. 

A  great  and  good  man  has  passed  away.  His  memory  is 
fresh,  and  his  good  deeds  and  writings  are  immortal.  Horace 
Seaver  was  a  grand  man.  He  did  a  great  work,  and  those 
who  come  after  us,  and  live  among  arrant  cowards,  as  they  evi- 
dently shall,  will  appreciate  this  honest  and  brave  man.  He 
stood  at  the  helm  for  over  lilly  years.  What  a  grand  record  I 
Not  fifty  years  of  sunshine,  but  fifty  years  of  storm.  Wliere  is 
the  man  of  all  those  you  have  known  that  could  have  filled  his 
place,  or  done  his  work?  He  seemed  born  for  the  editorship  of 
the  Investicatok.  It  may  truly  be  said  of  him  that  he  lived 
long  and  well.    He  died  in  the  mellow  autumn  of  a  ripe  old  age. 


104  XctUvs. 


He  lived  long  enough  to  sec  some  of  his  grand  ideas  afcc])tcd 

bj'  the  intelligent  part  of  the  world.     How  beautiful  to  see  a 

life  rounded  out  with  such  comparative  success.     It  was  after 

contemplating  such  a  splendid  life  that  the  bard  was  inspired 

to  say,  "  Let  me  die  the  death  of  ^le  righteous." 

His  clay  now  rests  on  the  bosom  of  mother   earth.      To 

Horace  Seaver  we  all  must  sa}',  Karewell !     But  his  deeds  live 

in   our  hearts.      The  grand  old  Investigator  waves  over  his 

silent  dust.     It  still  proclaims  the  glorious  ideas  of  the  "old 

man  eloquent,"  whose  tongue  is  now  silent,  to  the  wide,  wide 

world, — justice,  liberty,  and  equalitj*.     Long  may  the  flag  of 

the  Investigator  wave. 

W.    S.    Bell. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY,  LOS  ANGELES 

COLLEGE  LIBRARY 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


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